Not Like I Imagined
by theinfalliblesnapsevans
Summary: Having spent most of her life feeling overshadowed by her older sister, Helen enters her first year at Hogwarts where she meets new people and deals with her first crush. Takes place the year before SS/PS.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: It all belongs to J.K. Rowling. Except my characters. But everyone else belongs to her. **

**A/N: Hello FF! This is my first fic. I wrote Ch. 1-6 in a month for NaNoWriMo and was pretty pleased with what I had written so here it is. I have every intention on finishing this story (at least through the first year) but whether I'll finish it in a timely matter is still up in the air. So…enjoy? :]**

I knew it was coming that day. Don't ask me how I knew, I just did. Sure enough, I was sitting on the couch with Ann watching a movie after lunch when we heard the tapping at the dining room window. I flew out of my seat and yanked the window open as fast I could, letting the dark brown owl into our house. He swooped around the room once with an air of elegance, dropped the envelope on the table and was out the window before we knew it.

"Well, open it!" my sister yelled. She knew what the letter was too. After all, Ann got her letter last year. She looked almost as excited as I was.

"Ann, calm down. If anyone should be excited it's me right? 'Sides, I want to wait till Mum and Dad get home from work."

"But that's not for another 2 hours! Just open it, you already know what's inside, what's the big deal?"

What's the big deal? If she only knew how big of a deal it really was. For years, my older sister Antheia had been perfect at everything. Whether it was academically or socially, Ann knew what to do. She was a social butterfly at school, despite us being home schooled and her having little contact with people her own age. As for academics, she received high marks in almost all of her classes (her knowledge of Potions was lacking, which proved to me that she actually was human). Now here was proof, sitting right in my hands; I was in the same league as her. I'd be taking the same classes she did last year and I could finally prove to everyone that I could excel at school too, without having the bias of our mother. This was the place where I could make a name for myself, not as Ann's little sister. It was a very big deal.

"No. I'm going to wait. It's _my _letter and I'll open it when _I _want to." And with that, I left the room, sat right back down on the couch, leaving a stunned Ann at the table.

"Helen, you can be so unreasonable sometimes!" she exclaimed as she headed upstairs to her room. "It's just a letter that Mum and Dad have already seen before, what's the difference between yours and mine? There is none! So why wait? They won't care anyways!"

I rolled my eyes and went back to watching the movie.

*****

Now I should probably explain a bit about my family. We're not like other families in the neighborhood, or probably any neighborhood. You see, we have magic blood. Meaning my mom is a witch, as well as my sister and now me. My mum fell in love with my dad when they were students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry way back in the day. They were in their final year of school as Ravenclaws and had been close friends throughout most of their school years. What makes us different from most families, at least in the magic world, is that we try very hard to blend in with the Muggles. Most of it has to do with my dad's parents, who are also Muggles. We didn't want them to be uncomfortable when they came to visit so we tried to keep it normal for them when they stopped by and the lifestyle sort of stuck. We have a telly, a phone, we have normal clothes (meaning not robes), we listen to Muggle music (though Ann and I listen to "normal" music too like The Weird Sisters). If you walked into our home, you probably wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary unless you caught us off guard. My parents occasionally use magic to speed things along, usually when cooking or cleaning up house. Other than a few instances, my family is perfectly normal to the outside world.

As for my dear sister, we've pretty much stuck together up until she started school. Even when she was the Star Daughter, we did everything together because we were pretty much all the other had. I love her a lot, but since she started up at Hogwarts, it seems that we've grown apart. I understand that she has new friends, really. It just seems that she's grown up so much over the past year. This is why we've been fighting like crazy all summer. I'm almost positive mum and dad took extra hours at the Ministry and St. Mungo's just to stay away from it all. The smallest things have been setting us off on each other, like the letter did this afternoon. The only solution to our fighting is Hogwarts.

That's another reason why my Hogwarts letter was such a big deal. New people! Not just people though, kids my age that I can talk to, share stories and secrets with, people that I can talk freely to without having to censor myself about the wizard world. I was going to have friends. And September 1 couldn't come soon enough.

****

The next month was one of the slowest months of my life. All I could think about was September 1, and being able to finally board the Hogwarts Express like my sister had the previous year. Yet there I was, sitting in front of the TV day after day, my mum's homework assignments sitting forgotten on my desk. How could I focus on grammar and spelling when I had Charms and Potions work to look forward to? Though the days passed at a snail's pace, it finally came the time for us to travel to London to get school supplies at Diagon Alley. I had been a few times but had never gotten anything other than a butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron. Usually it was just a quick trip to run errands with my parents for work related things. But now, I was actually going to buy things! A wand, robes, books, quills, all would be mine soon. Never before had I felt so connected to the magical side of me. I was beginning to feel like I really belonged to this world.

The ride to London was a long one. We lived about an hour outside of the city, but the trip was made longer due to the weekend traffic. Antheia was in the backseat with me listening to some new CD she got from grandma for her birthday. I spent most of the car ride talking to mum and dad about their experience at Hogwarts.

"Oh Lenny, you're going to have such a fantastic time at school. The classes, the new people."

"Don't forget the food," said my dad.

"And Professor Flitwick was always so nice. You'll learn a lot from him, not just as a professor, too."

It was pretty clear that I was going to be sorted into Ravenclaw house. Not only were both of my parents from there, but so was Antheia; families were almost always sorted into the same house. I only heard of one instance in which someone was sorted into a different house than their family and that was way back when my parents were in school. Besides, the quality of Ravenclaws was that they were intelligent. Surely I fit the part, right?

"Mum, Dad? If I wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw, you'd be alright with that wouldn't you?" I asked. Even though I was fairly confident I wouldn't be I wanted to be positive they wouldn't hold it against me.

"Of course that'd be fine. Unless you were a Slytherin. Then we would probably have to disown you from the family," said my dad with a chuckle.

I laughed but my mum had other thoughts.

"William! Don't tell her things like that!"

"What? She knows I'm just joking, right Len?" he said with a wink. My dad was the person I was probably going to miss the most when I left for school. We just connected in a different way. He was always making me laugh when I was down. Don't get me wrong, I would miss my mum too, but she was so concerned with making sure Ann and me were raised right that she seemed to never take a chance to sit and relax. Hopefully, she would loosen up over the year now that both of her children were gone.

"Dad, I was just wondering, what do you have against all the people that are in Slytherin? I mean, I know you're playing around but sometimes it sounds like you really don't like them."

"See what you started Will?"

"I see nothing wrong with the question dear. Len, I guess since you'll be going to Hogwarts this year, you'll probably see this first hand soon enough, but I'll tell you anyway. Most, not all of the Slytherins, but most, have this idea that only pure bloods should have the right to learn about magic. It gives them this air of superiority that just gets really annoying. They only socialize with other Slytherin's and look down on anyone that's not pure blood. But it doesn't mean anything is wrong with you, so if they give you a hard time, just brush it off. It's just the way they were brought it up. And it doesn't help that Lucius Malfoy is spreading the hate all over the Ministry…"

"No Will, you know talking about Lucius gets you all upset. Just drop the subject and move on," Mum said. That was just like my mum. Keep the peace, no drama, no fuss in our family.

"I'm sorry Lenora, but pure bloods and the Malfoy's go hand in hand."

"Will" she said with a tone of finality in her voice.

And we rode in silence the rest of the way to London. Thankfully, we didn't have much of a ride after the bit of tense conversation, but it was enough time for my dad to calm down.

"Alright, everyone out!" dad said after we found parking in a lot a few blocks down. We got out of car quickly, all of us eager to get up and stretch our cramped legs. Minutes later, we arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. The pub was one of my favorite things about Diagon Alley, at least when entering from the busy London street. It always boggled my mind how the Muggles could be so oblivious to dingy pub front. We entered the pub, me holding dad's hand and mum guiding Ann in with her hand on the small of her back.

"Well hello Mr. Eddy, pleasure seeing you here," Tom the barman said with a wide grin. "And with your family, too! Always a pleasure Mrs. Eddy!"

"Same here Tom. It's been too long. We best be off though. Lots of things to buy today and so little time to shop!"

"Completely understandable. Mr. Eddy, a word with you if it's no trouble. I've got a problem with a boggart in one of the rooms upstairs. Can't seem to find it…"

"Not a problem Tom. I'll catch with up with you in a bit, right ladies?" He gave Mum and us a quick kiss and went to catch up with Tom upstairs.

"Well girls, I guess it's just for a bit. We have to dash over to Gringotts first and then we'll do some shopping." With that, we walked outside to the brick wall. She tapped the bricks with her wand and they began to shift into an archway big enough for all of us, revealing the wonder that is Diagon Alley. Looming over the busy streets was Gringotts, the wizard bank. It was a beautiful building even from far away, all white with its gold lettering. We made our way up the street. Mum had to stop every so often to say hi and chat with various co workers or families of patients from work, also buying supplies for their children.

Finally, we arrived at the large white doors. As we entered the building, I drew closer to my mother. Even as a child, I was always a little unnerved by the goblins that ran the bank. Their long fingers looked menacing, even though I knew that they wouldn't harm me. After my usual hesitance of being inside Gringotts, I became distracted by all the sights the building held. There were various goblins weighing different jewels and gold. A small group of men who seemed to be from the Ministry were in deep conversation with each other. I was so distracted I didn't realize that it was our turn to go underground to our vault until I felt a tug on my arm.

"Come on Helen, or we're going to leave you up here with the goblins," Antheia said with a grin.

I rushed over to my mum and sister and followed them to where the goblin was waiting for us. We all clamored into the small mine cart that would lead us to our vault. Despite the goblins that scared me on the main floor of Gringotts, I loved this part. I was astonished at all of the different rock formations and the sheer number of vaults that were whizzing past at lightning speed. The cart lurched to a stop as we reached our destination. Mum handed the goblin our key to our vault. As he opened the door, she turned to me and Ann and told us to stay in the cart.

"I don't want to have to make an emergency trip to St. Mungo's because you fell and broke something."

She went into the vault and returned quickly, her money bag considerably heavier. The cart took off almost as quickly as it had stopped and we were back on the main floor of Gringotts before we knew it. As we made our way towards the exit, I noticed an impatient woman, apparently waiting to be taken care of, but not standing in line. Antheia noticed her as well.

"Doesn't that woman know that the line starts over there?" she asked. "She's going to be waiting for a long time if she doesn't figure that out soon."

"Oh, she knows exactly where the line is and she's probably going to be assisted a lot faster than anyone in the line. That woman is Narcissa Malfoy."

Malfoy, the name sounded familiar. "Malfoy as in Lucius Malfoy? The man that dad doesn't like?"

"The very same and please keep your voice down. The last thing I need is a confrontation with Narcissa in such a public place. But yes, she's his wife. I know what you're thinking, how can someone marry such a man right?" she went on as she read my shocked expression. "She comes from a family where being a pure blood is highly valued. She's of the same type."

Taking a closer look at this woman, I could now see that she did indeed have that look of superiority that my dad had so often used to describe her husband. While she did have pretty looks, her eyes had a coldness about them that made people second guess approaching her. She held herself in a haughty manner, clearly expressing her dislike of being here. If she was anything like Lucius, no wonder Dad didn't like him; I didn't either and I'd never spoken to either of them. Narcissa felt my stare and turned to face me. She immediately turned up her nose at me, as if in disgust.

Mum caught this, returned an icy glare, and led Antheia and me out of the bank.

"Let's go, we have a lot to get done today," and we walked back into the sunlight.

****

The rest of the day was spent mostly with mum, and dad soon after as he had finished up with the troublesome boggart Tom needed help with. Ann had ran into her best friend from school, a girl named Cheyenne O Brien who was also a Ravenclaw. I met her briefly when Ann came home for Christmas last year and she seemed nice. She told me that she was Muggle born so she knew all about Muggle musicians too. She was especially fond of Madonna, which made me like her right away. She fawned all over me which was a plus too.

"Oh Helen, haven't you gotten taller since I lost you. And you've certainly grown in looks too. You're just living up to your namesake already aren't you?" Antheia then dragged her by the arm and both of them took off towards the joke shop a few stores down.

"Meet us at the Leaky Cauldron in 2 hours Ann! Lenny, let's go get your robes done first. And what else do we need?" Mum pulled out my school supplies list that came with my acceptance letter and became lost in a sea of new books, quills, and potions supplies. While I was getting fitted for my robes at Madam Malkins, she dashed off to Flourish and Blott's to get mine and Antheia's school books and sent my dad to Slug and Jiggers to get all the things I would require for Potions class. Madam Malkin was a nice witch that kept me entertained with her stories of all the crazy parents coming in for new robes. She also kept asking me how I felt about starting at Hogwarts.

"I hope you're not nervous about starting up at Hogwarts. I'm sure you'll have a bright future there, whatever your house you're sorted into, if you are anything like your parents. They were a bright pair, your parents were."

"You knew my parents when they were in school?"

"Well, not personally. I was a year older than them, and in a different house too, but their O.W.L. scores were incredibly high; everyone knew about them."

"Which house were you sorted into?" I asked, curious to hear about a house other than Ravenclaw for a change.

"Ah, I was sorted into Hufflepuff. I don't know where we got such a poor reputation. You'll never find a more loyal, friendly house. Well, let me take a look at you," she said as she stood back, looking at me in my robes. "Yes, I think we're done here. Let me pack those robes up for you."

I paid for my robes with the Galleons Mum had given me and walked into the busy street. Obviously neither of my parents expected me to finish up so fast so no one was here to pick me up. I decided to make my way up to Flourish and Blott's to meet up with Mum. On my way over, I passed Narcissa Malfoy again, this time with a boy who looked to be around my age. I was able to overhear a bit of their conversation as I walked past the two.

"Draco, I'll see about getting you a broom for your birthday, but now is certainly not the time. Besides, I hardly see the point. You don't even go to school yet and even when you start, you can't join the team."

"Mum, that's not the point. If I want to join the team I need to practice. I'll just ask Dad when I get home. He'll get me one. He understands how important it is."

From what I gathered from that quick overheard conversation, their son, Draco, was just like his parents. Apparently he expected to be handed things too. Thankfully, he wasn't my age so the chances of him being in any of my classes was zero. After I met up with my parents again, I told them what I overheard. Dad seemed to be interested but mum showed no interest. We had some ice cream at Floean's and made our way to our final stop of the day, Ollivander's Wand Shop.

This is the part of the trip I was most looking forward to: getting the wand that would signify my place in the wizard world. As we approached the shop, I noticed how dark it seemed compared to the other brightly lit, clearly displayed shops in Diagon Alley. Upon entering, we noticed that the darkness extended to the interior of the shop as well. This was caused mainly by the shelves that were stocked floor to ceiling with long, black boxes. I realized that in these hundreds, maybe thousands of boxes were wands, waiting to be claimed by their master.

"Ah, Ms. Eddy. I've been expecting your arrival," a voice from behind us spoke.

With a jump, we turned around to find us face to face with Mr. Ollivander himself.

"Mr. Ollivander, how lovely to you."

"My feelings exactly Mrs. Eddy. I see your wand there in your pocket, perfect condition still. Ten inches, dragon heartstring, oak if I remember correctly."

"I see your memory is as strong as ever."

"I remember every wand I have sold. Every single one. Let us see what wand will be picking your young daughter today."

Confused, I asked, "Which wand will be picking me? I thought it was the other way around. I thought _I _would be picking my wand."

"Oh no Ms. Eddy. I have learned that, in fact, it is the wand that chooses the witch or wizard. When the wand chooses their owner, the pair is perfectly balanced, each equally pulling their weight in the partnership. It truly is magical."

"You make it sound like wands have a mind of their own," I replied with a nervous chuckle.

Ollivander said nothing, but looked at me with a knowing look in his eye. "Let's move on to the wand choosing now." He disappeared down one of the many cluttered aisles and returned a minute later, his arms overloaded with boxes. After every wand he handed to me, he would ask me to wave the wand; most of the time though, he would take the wand right out of my hand before I had a chance to do anything."

"No, not right. Definitely not. Too springy. No. No. No." And finally, "Maybe."

He handed me a wand, very pretty, even to my untrained eye. It looked to be mahogany, longer than Mum's. As soon as he passed it to me, it felt so right, like meeting an old friend. I gave the wand a wave and blue and gold sparks shot out of the end.

"I…I think this is the right wand Mr. Ollivander."

"I do believe you're right child."

My parents looked at me with such pride in their eyes. My mum even looked a little teary eyed.

"My daughter, she's so grown up now," she whispered.

"Taking the first step to becoming a fantastic witch."

"Would you like me to wrap this for you Ms. Eddy?" said Mr. Ollivander, breaking up the moment my parents were having. I didn't want to let go of the wand, but I handed it over anyway. I paid for my wand, bid Mr. Ollivander farewell and exited the store with my parents behind me.

"Well, is that it now? That's everything on my list. Where's Ann?"

"Before we go, we have a gift for you."

"A gift?"

"For being a fantastic daughter and making us so proud. Follow us. And close your eyes."

As told, I closed my eyes, leaving my hands free for my parents to guide me to wherever they were taking me. We didn't walk far; it seemed to be only a few steps. The first thing that hit me was the smell, then the sounds of screeching. Before I opened my eyes, I knew we were at Eeylop's Owl Emporium which could only mean one thing.

"Open your eyes Lenny."

Before my eyes were hundreds of eyes. Brown and white, big and small, so many varieties my mind couldn't take it.

My mum spoke up. "You can pick any owl you want. You deserve it."

"I took my time deciding. Getting an owl was a big deal. Even Antheia didn't have one, though she did have a cat. An owl was useful and would be able to keep me in contact with mum and dad while I was at school. This owl would be with me for a long time. I had to make sure I made the right choice. The fact that there were so many of them made choosing hard. I immediately ruled out the smaller varieties, even though they were adorable. They just wouldn't be able to carry large packages and I never knew if I would have to send something big to someone. I headed further into the store where the larger types were. I was drawn to a medium sized brown owl. He looked to be the same size as the owl that dropped off my Hogwarts acceptance letter and the same type too. He affectionately nipped at my hand as I reached out to stroke him.

"Mum, Dad! I think I found him!"

"Good choice," said Dad. "He's beautiful. I'll go up and pay for him."

"So what are you going to name him?" asked Mum as she too began to stroke his long feathers.

"I don't know. I like the name Argo, you know, after the ship."

"I see we're carrying the Greek name tradition into our pets," she replied with a smile. Dad and mum were very interested in Greek mythology and decided to name me and Antheia after figures from mythology. Ann was named after the Greek goddess of flowers. I, Helen, was named after Helen of Troy. I had a lot to live up to.

"I like it. It fits well, too. After all, the _Argo_ was successful in its journey. Maybe it's a sign that this Argo will always be successful in his journeys as well. Now, let's go find your sister."

We went up to the front of the store, Argo in hand. Dad had taken the liberty of buying all the necessary items: cage, food (though he'd have plenty to eat at the school in the Owlery), and some medicine in case he got sick while we were at school. I gave both of them a huge hug.

"Thanks so much for everything! Argo and I appreciate it all."

"Argo, eh? Like the ship?"

"The very same."

"Nice. Now where's your sister off to?"

We found her and Cheyenne inside Flourish and Blotts. She said her goodbyes and we all made our way back to the Leaky Cauldron and then to the car, hands full and the moneybag considerably lighter. I finally felt ready to face whatever Hogwarts had in store for me. Before, I couldn't wait for the start of September in a week. Now, it was going to be next to impossible to keep me sane. The drive home was faster than the drive to London and we got home in time for a late supper. I ate quickly and made my way upstairs to my room with every intention to start packing. But as soon as I saw my bed, I knew that the packing would have to wait. The long day had finally caught up with me. I threw myself to my bed and was asleep before I hit the pillow.

****

The morning of September 1, I woke up with a knot in my stomach. Not so much of a nervous knot, as much as an excited knot. I got virtually no sleep that night. Most of the night was spent tossing and turning trying to figure out what new people I would meet and what the classes would be like. I was up way before my alarm went off at 9 am; when dad came into my room to check that I was awake, I had already dressed and double checked my luggage.

"Good morning. I guess I don't have to bother dragging you out of bed today, eh? Breakfast downstairs in a bit."

"Got it Dad!"

Unsure of what to do with myself, I checked my luggage again. My luck I would forget a book or a set of robes and I'd have to write back home. During my sleepless night, I had made a list of all the things I felt I would need my first year at school. I already had the school supplies list from school, so that was done for me. The personal items list, on the other hand, was incredibly long. Other than the necessary items, I had stacks of parchment for writing to mum and dad, 8 quills, my favorite books to read when I had spare time, tons of pictures of me and my family, my diary, my sketch pad in case I felt the need to draw again and my stuffed rabbit. This last item was placed carefully on top of my clothes, it being my favorite thing in the whole world since I got it for my 5th birthday. After my third check, I heard mine and Ann's name called downstairs for breakfast. I walked into her on my way to the kitchen.

"Len! Are you excited yet? I know you might feel nervous but trust me there is nothing at all to worry about. Remember, I'll be there whenever you need me. I can help you with all any classes you're having trouble with and Cheyenne can help you too because she really likes you too and—"

"Ann. Calm down. I'm not even nervous. If anything, you're the one who sounds nervous."

"Ha, me nervous? That's crazy." Antheia babbled. "I mean really. There's nothing for me to nervous about. It's just Hogwarts. Nothing new. No one new. I'm just excited to go back and see all my friends you know like Cheyenne, Roger, Anne Marie. I just haven't seen them all summer that's all."

"Yeah. Sure. But if you don't stop acting like a mental person I'll bang your head on the wall."

"Now really Lenny, that's not necessary I'm just trying to explain why I'm excited…"

I ran down the stairs before I could hear the rest of what she was saying. I knew something was up with Ann but now wasn't the time to deal with her nuttiness. Plus, the smell of waffles was reaching my nose and I wanted to make sure I got the softest ones of the batch Mum was making.

"Oh, there are my girls! Both of my little girls finally off to Hogwarts. What am I going to do without you? No one to make breakfast for in the morning, no one to read to, no one to…" but I couldn't catch the rest as she trailed off. She reached for a box of tissues and blew her nose loudly.

"Honestly mum, it's not like we're not returning. We'll be back in like, 3 months," laughed Antheia.

"Oh, I know. I'm just being silly aren't I? Finish your food quick, we want to be out the door by 9:45 am at the latest. I'm going out to help your dad get your luggage in the trunk."

Antheia and I ate in relative silence. She kept tapping her foot against the chair leg, clearly still thinking about whatever was making her nervous. I was lost in thought too. This was going to be the last home cooked meal I was going to have in a long time. I looked around the kitchen, starting to feel the slightest tug on my heart. I never thought that I would actually miss home. I knew I would miss it a little bit, but now I was starting to feel a bit scared. Nice time to start having second thoughts, I thought to myself. Even though I was beginning to have feelings of doubt about going to Hogwarts and being away from everything I've ever known, I knew that I would never reveal these feelings to my parents and especially not Antheia. I had made it no secret that I was excited to leave home and do something exciting, finally, with my life. Confessing that I was having fears now would just bring up unnecessary questions. I would have to focus on keeping myself calm the ride to King's Cross Station, where the Hogwarts Express would be departing in less than 2 hours. Hopefully I'd be able to find an empty compartment where I could let go of a few tears.

"Lenny, Ann, you finished?" Mum had come back from loading the car snapping both me and Ann from our trances. "We've got about 5 minutes before we have to leave so wash up the dishes and get any last minute things you need. Your dad and I will be waiting outside." With that, she dashed back outside.

"Oh, Helen, I left Eris's sleeping pillow upstairs in my room. Mind if you get my plate?" she yelled from the stairs, not leaving me with much of a choice. I was happy for the distraction though, so I did the task without much of a thought. I tried thinking of all the good things that would come out of leaving home but I was in such a state that it was near impossible. What if I failed at my classes? What if no one likes me? Everyone likes Ann, but what about me? What if I get caught being homesick and crying and everyone makes fun of me? What if I get off on the wrong foot with the professors? All the "what ifs" that I had so happily ignored this past month were suddenly hitting me like a brick. It would take everything I had to not have a panic attack in the car on our way to London.

"Len, let's go!" Ann spoke from behind me. Before I turned around, I put on my happy smile.

"Yeah, let's go, I'm done here." She took me by the arm and we made our way to the front door. As soon as we stepped over the threshold, we were blinded with a white flash.

"Mum! Don't blind us before we leave!"

"Sorry dears, I just needed a picture of you both. Since you'll be leaving you know, I'll need something to remember you by."

"And their baby books aren't full of enough pictures, right Lenora?"

"Oh, just get in the car."

We piled in, Antheia immediately reaching for her Walkman. Unlike the ride to Diagon Alley the previous weekend, this ride was relatively silent. I knew that mum was off in some world that involved lots of sniffing and tissue. Dad seemed to catch onto my mood though, just like always. He never said anything, but whenever he would catch my eye in the rearview mirror, he'd flash me a reassuring smile. Surprisingly, those helped a lot. With every smile, my fears subsided a little bit more till I was practically normal by the time we arrived at the station with 15 minutes to spare. I was still feeling the knot from this morning, though it was more of the nervous type, no longer the excited knot. After the luggage was unloaded from the car, Ann took off with mum following closely behind. I lingered with Dad.

"So you're feeling a little nervous eh Lenny?"

"How could you tell?"

"I'm your dad, I can always tell." I couldn't really say anything to that. It was the truth; no matter what I was feeling, dad always knew what I was feeling. "Besides, I felt the same way when I was starting my first year. But I was feeling ten times worse than you are."

"Dad, I find that really hard to imagine. I'm terrified!"

"I'm sure you are, though you have nothing to be terrified of. Picture me, not even knowing what I was till I got my letter. You've known your whole life, you know what to expect. I had no idea what was in store for me. But look what happened. My years at Hogwarts were some of the best of my life."

"I know everything's going to be alright, I just can't shake this feeling off that I'm going to be a total outcast. How can plain old me compare to perfect Ann? Who would choose me over her?"

"Helen, I know a lot of things about you, but the one thing I am most sure of is that you are definitely not plain. And I'm positive that someone will see how un-plain you are." He reached down and scooped me into the biggest hug I've ever received. No longer scared of what my future held, we caught up with mum and Antheia who was literally bouncing with excitement.

"Ann!" scolded Mum. "We're trying our best to _not_ draw attention to ourselves and you're doing the exact opposite."

"Sorry," she mumbled as she hung her head.

"Okay, we'll go in first and then you two follow behind us."

Mum took hold of Ann's luggage and took her by the arm, Ann's other arm carrying Eris. They walked into a crowd of people; by the time the crowd passed, they were nowhere to be seen, having disappeared into the brick wall that held a magical secret.

"You ready Len?" Dad asked. I took one last look behind me at the muggle world that I would be leaving behind. I looked forward to the brick wall ahead that held my future and then to my dad.

"I'm ready."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So I decided to post all of the chapters I have written this weekend whether or not people are reading my story. This way it'll be saved somewhere in case my computer gets another virus and I have to restart my computer and lose all my files again. And this way anyone who gets really into the story has something to read while I get the creative juices flowing again so I can write Ch. 7. **

The transition from the muggle world to the platform was surprisingly smooth. The chaos of the train station disappeared for a moment as Dad and I passed through the brick wall; when we crossed over, we were welcomed by a large scarlet train and a billowing train whistle.

"Oh good, you made it through okay. Come on Len, hand your luggage over to this man over here. He'll pack it in the train for you."

I handed my suitcase to a friendly, but harried, looking man. The busy morning was beginning to take its toll on him.

"Your owl too. Don't worry, he'll be fine," said the man reading my worried face. "There's a whole space just for the owls." His soothing words calmed me and I carefully handed over Argo. I made my way back to my parents, where they were saying their goodbyes to Antheia. I overheard the last bit of the conversation they were having.

"Promise me you'll watch over your sister. I don't care how adjusted she seems to be, just make sure you take care of her, okay?" Mum asked.

"You know I will. But I promise. I'll make sure she's alright."

"Thank you. And as for you, try to write to me more than once a month. It's hard enough not hearing from you on a daily basis, once a month is unbearable."

Antheia laughed. "I promise. But I can't promise more than once a week! Things get busy, you know that."

"Oh I do!"

I felt that it was safe enough for me to make myself known, now that they were done talking about me. I wasn't upset that they made Ann promise to keep an eye on me; if anything, I was kind of comforted. Even though I thought she acted a bit like a know-it-all most times, she was still a reminder of home.

"Alright, luggage is loaded!"

"Fantastic! Come join our goodbye circle!" answered Dad with a laugh.

"Wouldn't it technically be a goodbye square?" I responded.

"Just get in here."

"I only have one thing to say to both of you girls. I'm incredibly proud of you. And I love you both. And I hope you girls have a great time. Ann, remember what your mum said. Lenny, have fun. That's what your first year is all about anyway."

We all hugged in our little huddle tucked in a corner of the platform.

"All aboard!" we heard.

"Well, we'll be seeing you soon. Only 3 months, right? It'll go by in a flash." With a quick hug and kiss to my parents, Antheia was off and had boarded the train. She quickly appeared in a compartment window and waved to us, still on the platform.

"Boy, she's fast isn't she?" I spoke. I turned to my parents to say my goodbyes. "Mum, I'll miss you so much. I promise I'll write often, okay?"

"Be careful Lenny, she's going to hold you to that."

"Shush Will. Len, have fun okay? But don't have too much fun. You still have to study and everything. And if you need anything, always remember that Ann will be right there."

"I know mum. I'll remember. Dad, I'll miss you so much!" squeezing him as he gave me a hug. I whispered into his ear, "And thank you for the talk. It's helped me more than you'll know."

"I have an idea but no problem," he whispered back. Going back to his normal voice, he said "Lenny, its sure going to be boring around the house. You know mum isn't nearly as fun as you." We all laughed.

"Well, goodbye. I'll see you soon!" with a last hug, I turned and boarded the train. I was immediately surrounded by students. Some were racing up and down trying to find their friends in compartments, others were like me, lost. I didn't know whether to find Antheia and her group of friends or find an empty compartment. I decided on the former. I was ready to make a new start at Hogwarts, but I wasn't quite ready to start making new friends as soon as I got on the train. I made my way to Ann, remembering she was somewhere to my left based on which window she had waved to us from. I soon found her and Cheyenne, who beckoned me in with a smile. There was another girl sitting across from them.

"Hi Helen!" Cheyenne smiled. "How are things?"

"Oh, you know…" I replied stupidly.

"Len, did you want to sit with us? I'm assuming that's why you're here, right?"

"Yeah, you don't mind do you? Cause I'll leave if you want me to."

"Nonsense. Take a seat next to Clairion. Clair, this is my little sister Helen. Helen, this is Clairion Dawson, but everyone just calls her Clair. It's easier. She's in Ravenclaw with us."

"Nice to meet you," I said giving her a bit of a wave. She smiled in acknowledgment.

"So has anyone seen Roger yet?" she asked, leaping right into a conversation as if I wasn't there.

"Not yet. He's probably hanging out with some of his mates from Quidditch."

"Think he'll come around? I want to make sure I look decent."

"Oh, got your eyes on him?"

And on the conversation went. I tuned out the talk and gazed out the window. All I could see was countryside. Occasionally I would spot a small village in the distance, but most of the view was empty land. Every so often I would listen in on the conversation to see if they were talking about anything interesting but it never happened. About an hour passed before the snack trolley rolled by.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" asked the old lady rolling the cart.

"I'll take a Chocolate Frog," said Clair as she dug around in her pockets for some money.

"Lenny, want anything? Mum gave me some money before I left."

I took a look around the trolley. Everything looked so good! It didn't help that I was hungry. I spotted some Pumpkin Pasty's, a favorite of mine that I always indulged in whenever I went to Diagon Alley or anyplace that sold them.

"I'll take a Pumpkin Pasty."

"Alright, 2 Pumpkin Pasty's and a Chocolate Frog please."

"Here you are dear."

Cheyenne shook her head no as the lady looked over at her, silently asking if she'd like anything.

"Nothing to snack on for you Cheyenne?"

"Nope. I'm saving my stomach for the Welcome feast."

"Good idea. I hope they have treacle tart. It's my favorite!" spoke Clair.

"You know they will Clair, it's the Welcome feast; they have everything imaginable! Len, the feast is probably the best one of the year. Well, maybe the Halloween feast is, but this one is still amazing. The food is even better than Mum's."

"Wow, it must be good then."

Clairion steered the conversation back to where it had left off. "Anyways, like I was saying, I was talking to Angelina at Diagon Alley earlier in the week and she said…"

I tuned out the conversation again. The rest of the train ride was spent looking out the window. Sometimes we'd pass by farms, sometimes small villages like the one I'd see closer to London. I took a break from my staring to change into my new robes. As I pulled them on, the butterflies that had been fluttering in my stomach all day started fluttering a little faster. I resumed my window watching trying to hide them and my emotions from my sister. Before we knew it, the sky outside was nearly pitch black with hundreds of stars dotting the sky, standing out in the middle of nowhere. Not long after it got black the train started to slow down, signaling our arrival.

"Alright Lenny, I've got to leave you. First years get to the school by a different way. I'll see you inside though and I'll save you a seat at the Ravenclaw table!"

She disappeared into the rush of exiting students with Cheyenne and Clair, leaving me alone in the compartment. I waited for a break in the crowd before I made my attempt to get off the train. The cool air hit my face when I got off which calmed me down a little bit. I looked around for some sort of direction as to where to go, a sign possibly.

"Firs' years, this way!" a voice bellowed from my left. Looking to see where that voice came from, I found my answer in a huge man, at least the height of two of me. Not only was he tall, he was big too. His hands seemed to be the size of dinner plates. He had a wild beard and a huge mane of black hair which seemed to startle many of the students around him; once I got closer, I was able to see past the hair and notice his kind eyes. He looked down at the small crowd that had gathered around him.

"All the firs' years here? Good! Follow me!" He turned and beckoned us all to follow him down a trail. We appeared to be going through a small forest, at least that's what the amount of trees on either side of the trail suggested. I heard some gasps towards the front of the line and wondered what they saw. As the trees began to thin out, I was able to see what had caused such a reaction. Standing before us, proud and majestic, was Hogwarts castle. It sat on the side of a mountain, overlooking a vast, black lake. The castle was huge; it must have held hundreds of rooms.

"Ev'ryone into a boat! Keep four to a boat, understand?"

In my wonder, I didn't even notice that there was a row of rowboats at the edge of the lake. As everyone raced to a boat, the large man got into his boat, taking up all available space. Clearly, he was riding solo. I found a boat that had an available space. In it already were two boys and a girl. As I sat down, the girl turned to me and smiled. She was really pretty with bright green eyes, straight nose and dark brown hair.

"Isn't it amazing? The castle I mean."

"Yeah, it is. What's your name?" I asked her. She seemed to be nice enough.

"Oh, that's the first thing I should've told you. My name is Marselia. How about you? What's yours?"

"My name is Helen. But you can call me Len or Lenny. That's what my family calls me. Your name sounds pretty," I complimented her as the boats took off across the still lake.

"Thanks. It's kind of a mouthful though. Most people just call me Mari. You can if you want. What about you guys?" she asked, directing the question to the two boys we shared the boat with.

"I'm Roderick and this is Logan," said the taller of the two. He had dark, curly hair while his friend had white blonde hair. They shared similar features, mostly in the shape of their eyes, but didn't look like they were brothers.

"Are you guys related?"

"Yeah. Logan's my cousin. Most people don't pick up on that. You're pretty observant."

"Thanks. I usually pick up on things that most people miss. It's a gift, what can I say?"

Roderick smiled and turned his attention back to his cousin, who seemed to be a little seasick. He looked like he was turning green, though how he was getting sick was beyond me. The little boats were barely making any movement; they were gliding across the lake with ease. Mari noticed his appearance too,

"Hey, if your cousin gets sick, throw him over the side of the boat or he's going to set off a chain reaction on this thing and it's not going to be pretty."

"He'll be fine. Besides, I think we're almost there."

We all looked back towards the castle. Roderick was right, we had almost made it to the mouth of a cave. It seemed to be going underneath the castle right into the side of the mountain. I could hear Roderick talking to Logan trying to distract him from his queasy stomach. I turned my attention back to Mari.

"So, what house do you want to be in?"

"Oh, I'll probably be sorted into Ravenclaw. Though I wouldn't mind Gryffindor you know? But since my brother is already in Ravenclaw, I'll be put in the same house. Family with family and all that."

"You have a brother in Ravenclaw? That's cool, I have a sister there. Maybe we'll be in the same house after all since I'll be sorted there too."

"Awesome, I hope so! Who's your sister? Maybe my brother has mentioned her before."

"Antheia Eddy."

"Oh, she's your sister? Yeah, Roger has definitely mentioned her before."

"I've heard of your brother too. Ann and her friends were talking about him when we were on the train."

"They hang out with each other a lot. Though I don't think it's just because they're in the same house if you get what I mean."

"You mean, you think they like each other?" The thought of Ann liking someone was ridiculous to me. Then again, it would explain a lot like the incident at the table this morning and why she was so twitchy.

"I can't say anything about your sister since I haven't met the girl yet, but, I can tell you this much: Roger's been doing an awful lot of practice for the Quidditch team. Don't get me wrong, he's a devoted player and all, but my theory is that he's training to make sure he doesn't make a fool out of himself in front of Antheia. He says he wants to look good "for the ladies" but the only "lady" he's ever mentioned around me is your sister. If that's not a clue I don't know what is."

"Well, couldn't you ask him or something? If he does have a thing for her, I think Ann would want to know."

"I can't just get up and ask him "Hey, do you have a thing for Antheia Eddy?" He'd think I was mental. 'Sides, we're not close like that. We talk but I can't just ask him something personal like that. Sorry."

"Guess I'll have to do some investigating on my own."

It suddenly got very dark around us. I realized that we had entered the cave that would take us to school. The darkness was broken up by 2 small lights ahead. The way they flickered told me that they were torches. As the torches grew larger, I could see that they were on either side of 2 grand double doors. There was a small waiting area in front of doors for us to gather and wait for further instruction. The boats came to a stop, allowing the students to get off. I got out after Mari and turned to help Roderick and Logan, no longer green but still sick looking, out of the boat.

"Land!" Logan said with enthusiasm, the first words I'd heard him speak all evening. We all laughed.

"Hey Roderick, I never got a chance to ask you, any idea on where you're heading?"

"One, call me Rod or Rick. Only my parents call me Roderick. And what house I'll be sorted into? Haven't put much thought into it really." I guess any house will be fine. Except Slytherin of course for obvious reasons. I really don't want to be associated with that lot when I leave here."

"Logan, what about you?"

"Same as Rod I guess. My dad was in Hufflepuff but my mum was a Ravenclaw. I'm not like you guys where you know where you'll be sorted," he replied, referring to Mari and I. "As long as I'm not a Slytherin I don't really care."

"What is with all the Slytherin hate?" a voice spoke from in front of us. A tall girl with jet black, straight hair turned to face us. Her eyes were sky blue, but there was a coldness in them much like the eyes of Mrs. Malfoy that day in Diagon Alley. "Most people respect the name Slytherin. I suggest you four learn to as well."

"Maybe we don't respect the name because everyone that comes out of that house ends up being a jackass with a superiority complex or a crazed maniac that ends up killing innocent people. Or did you forget about that last part?" spoke Logan. We looked at him in shock, except Rod. Logan hadn't spoken much, only speaking when we asked him a direct question. Hearing this come from him was startling. The tall girl looked like she had been slapped in the face, but recovered quickly. She stepped right into Logan's fuming face.

"I'm going to personally make sure that you regret having ever said that," she threatened in a low menacing voice. She whipped her body around and pushed her way to the front of the crowd that was still waiting at the door. Though the event that just occurred had seemed pretty big to us, no one else noticed what happened, not even the people standing right near us. Either that, or they did a pretty good job of ignoring the incident.

Mari looked at Logan. "What was that all about? You act like a mute this whole time and then you snap at some random student? What's your deal?"

Rod answered for his cousin. "He's just got some issues with Slytherin's that's all. We both do, I just have a better control over my emotions and don't let them get the best of me," he said, shooting his cousin a glare. Logan didn't seem to notice; he still looked furious.

I nudged his arm.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine in a minute. Just don't let me near her or a Slytherin anytime soon and I'll be fine."

"Well if you, well, you know, need someone to talk to or something—"

"Welcome," a sharp voice sounded from the door. A tall, strict looking woman stood at the door, giving us all a once over. A tall hat with a feather stood atop her head. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, giving her an even harsher appearance. Her sharp gaze made everyone a little uncomfortable and a lot scared. We knew this wasn't a professor to cross.

"I am Professor McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Follow me please."

Mari and I shared a scared look. Neither of our siblings had mentioned this woman. It would have been nice to have a warning about this one. Still, we followed her. Not just because we were scared, but we could also smell something wonderful coming from inside. Curiosity had replaced fear and we now followed the woman willingly. She led us into the castle. You could practically hear the jaws hitting the floor. The eyes were drawn in so many different directions it was dizzying. Paintings covered almost every available wall space. The figures waved and welcomed us as we continued along. Tall windows drew the eyes up where we could see the true height of the castle. All I could see were staircases, some stationary, some moving. The woman's voice drew my attention back to eye level. We had come to a stop and Mari had to hold me back from falling into Rod standing in front of me.

"We are standing outside the Great Hall. Before we enter, there are a few things we must go over. Upon entering, you will be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses: Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. While here, your House will be like your family. You'll have classes with your House, eat with them and sleep in the House dormitory. Your triumphs will earn you House points. Any rule breaking will result in a deduction of points. At the end of the term, the House with the most points will win the House Cup tournament, a great honor. Now that that is all sorted, we will enter the Great Hall. Single file please."

Everyone rushed to shuffle into a single file line. Mari, Logan (who had calmed down fortunately), Rod and I ended up next to each other in line. Fen was behind me and gave me a small poke.

"You nervous?" he whispered.

"'Course not," I whispered back. But my wavering voice gave me away.

"No need to be nervous Len. It's nothing."

I was about to tell him thanks, I knew that, but I had finally made my way into the Great Hall. The nerves came rushing back. I was surrounded on both sides by a sea of black. Every eye of every student was ogling us like we were in a fish tank.

"I think I'm going to vomit," Mari whispered loudly. The four of us giggled nervously but the same feeling started creeping into my stomach too. I searched the sea for a familiar face. I found her, sitting right in the middle of the furthest table to my left. Antheia waved enthusiastically from her spot. Cheyenne was sitting next to her shooting me a thumbs up. I smiled weakly. The whispers from the students subsided as everyone turned to face the front of the hall. An old, frayed hat was sitting on a stool. A few seconds had passed before I figured out why we were all staring. The hat started singing! Being from a magical family and seeing magic done on a fairly regular basis, I don't see why it shocked me. Must have been the nerves. The hat sang a song about each of the Houses and which type of students belonged in each one. Knowing already which one I would be sorted into, I took this as an opportunity to take a look around my new home.

I looked up and saw the same night sky we had seen gliding across the lake in those dinky boats. Ann had told me about the bewitched ceiling. While it didn't surprise me, it was still stunning. Hovering right below the ceiling were hundreds of burning candles, the main source of light in the large room. I stared ahead past the hat to see what I correctly assumed to be the staff table. I was pleased to see that not all of the professors had the same sharp appearance as Professor McGonagall. Some looked downright friendly. On the far side of the table sat the large man that brought us across the lake. Sitting right in the middle was Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster. I recognized him immediately from Ann's description. His half-moon glasses, his long white beard, his crooked nose—it was him alright. The hat had finished its song and Professor McGonagall began talking again snapping me back to reality.

"When I call your name, sit on this stool and place the hat on your head. When you have been sorted, take a seat at your House table." She proceeded to call out the names of all of us standing in line. Thankfully, I'd be getting my name called early so I could get this done with.

"Chang, Cho!" McGonagall called. A pretty girl with black hair approached the stool.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat. She ran to the booming loud table with a smile. So she would be one of my dorm mates. She looked friendly.

"Davies, Marselia!"

Mari stumbled her way to the front of the room. She placed the hat on her head and sat for a few seconds which surprised me. I had assumed that since she had family in a House, she would just automatically be sorted into it, no pauses.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hate yelled out. Relief on her face, Mari skipped over to the Ravenclaw table. She gave me a big grin as she sat down. She took her seat next to who I assumed to be Roger Davies. He was a good looking boy; he and Mari looked almost identical. They shared the same brown hair and eyes. If Antheia had a crush on Roger, I could certainly see why.

"Eddy, Helen!" I felt my eyes grow wide with fear. I looked at Ann to give me reassurance but it was Mari's confident smile that gave me the confidence to approach the stool and not run out of the Great Hall. Fen also gave me a small push forward. I turned to him and smiled. As I made my way to the front, I felt the stares. I did my best to block them out and hurried to sit on the stool and pull the hat over my eyes so I could avoid seeing all the people in the room. A voice surprised me.

"A little nervous, eh?" the hat asked. "Not to worry, I know exactly where to put you. Smart, just like your sister. RAVENCLAW!"

I leapt off the stool, placed the hat carefully back and ran to my House table. _My _table, I was sorted! I had a place here! I made my way first to Ann.

"I told you so little sister! Here, sit next to me." She motioned to Cheyenne to scoot over to make room for me but I stopped her.

"Oh, um, if you don't mind, I'm going to sit with my friend Mari. Okay?"

"Roger's sister? Nice choice Lenny. Sure go ahead. I'll talk to you in the common room anyway."

"Yeah, talk to you later!" I walked over to Mari who had saved a seat for me next to her.

"We're in!" she squealed. "Oh, let me introduce you two. Roger. Hey, Roger." She tried to get her brother's attention. She punched his arm.

"Roger! Meet my new friend Helen!" Still no response. "Don't worry, I know how to get his attention," she said with a sly smile. "Roger, this is Helen Eddy. Antheia's little sister."

We stifled a laugh as he turned his head right around.

"Nice to meet Ann's little sister," he spoke as he shook my hand. Seeing him up close, I could really see how handsome he was. His eyes weren't just dark brown, they were chocolate. His hair was think and shiny. He was positively gorgeous. "I hang out with her all the time. She's a great girl."

Reality check, I thought to myself. He's into Ann.

"Oh yeah, she's swell." We both returned to our conversations, Roger with his mates and me to Mari.

"Do you really think he's into her?" I asked, taking the time to clap for a new Gryffindor.

"Helen, come on. Did you see how fast his head turned when I said who you were? He got whiplash!"

"True, but he could have just turned around quickly because he didn't want to ignore you any longer."

"But remember, he said that your sister was a "great girl." What boy sys that about just a friend?" she pointed out. We sat in silence with our new thoughts. I hated to admit it, but I was jealous if what Mari said was true, and deep down, I knew she was right. I had thoughts of roger sweeping me off my feet. But I how could I think that now? He's my friend's older brother!

"Helen! Rod and Logan should be up next!" What if they're in Ravenclaw too?" We paid close attention to the sorting again, thoughts of Roger and Antheia far from our mind. There were only 4 people left.

"Seaton, Roderick!"

We watched closely as he placed the hat on his head. He sat on the stool for what seemed forever. The hat was having a hard time finding a place for him. Finally, the hat made his decision

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Aw. I was hoping he'd be with us."

"It's alright, I'm right behind you."

Mari and I jumped. Rod was sitting behind us, sitting at the Gryffindor table. "This can work out I think. We'll still have a class together I think. Let's just hope Logan get's into one of our Houses too."

All three of us focused our attention back to the ceremony. Logan was just about to place the hat on his head. He sat there for about the same length as his cousin.

"Your family is hard to sort, you know that?" I whispered across the aisle.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Our faces fell.

"At least he wasn't put into You-Know-Where." We met his eyes across the room and he gave us a quick smile before he went to meet his House mates. He sat himself as far as he could from the Slytherin table.

"Winters, Odessa!" The tall girl we had the confrontation with earlier walked confidently to the front.

I pointed her out to Mari and Rod.

"Well look who it is, it's the Queen of England," mocked Mari, referring to Odessa's walk. She had her shoulders back, head held high and the smuggest look I've ever seen on her face. "Someone should tell her this isn't a runway."

Even though we knew where she was going, we watched in silence anyways. She barely placed the hat on her head before it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"

She got off the stool and walked towards her table. As she passed the Hufflepuff table, she made eye contact with Logan. "Watch yourself," she mouthed. Logan said nothing, but even from this distance, I could see his fists balling up. Mari and I watched as Odessa sat down in a large group of older students, making no attempt at socializing with her fellow first years.

"It seems the Odessa runs with a powerful crowd," I told Mari. "I recognize some of those students she's sitting with. Some are the kids of powerful people at the Ministry."

"It seems she has some influence too." Odessa had the students eagerly leaning in to her as she told them a story. We had no idea what she was telling them, but we got a pretty good idea when she pointed out Logan to her friends.

"Mari, I'm kind of worried about Logan. Look what Odessa is doing. It looks like she's gathering an army." It was true. Odessa had finished her take on the events that took place minutes earlier and her friends had now turned to Logan. He didn't appear to notice the cruel looks on their faces. What worried me more than their faces was the satisfied one on Odessa's face. She got me starring at her and shot me a twisted grin.

"Yeah, I see what you mean," said Mari. "Hey Rod, check out the Slytherin table. Anything to be worried about?"

Rod looked over to where we had pointed and saw what was happening. He then looked over at Logan to see how he was handling what had transpired. "Logan will be alright for now. He looks upset still but he won't act out anytime soon. Not with it being so early in the school year. He's not taking any chances."

"So we have something to be worried about later in the year?"

"Maybe. It depends on how the Slytherin's handle it. If they handle it like I think they will, they'll be really careful about how they attack him. Don't want to risk getting caught either. They'll say a lot of stuff in passing but they probably won't confront him yet."

"Let's just worry about it when the time comes, yeah? Look, we just missed Dumbledore's speech!" Mari huffed.

"Sorry!" Rod and I whispered. Rod turned back to his own table and began to make conversation with the people he was sitting near.

"Hey, when is the food going to get here?"

To answer her question, the table magically spouted out trays and trays of food. Everyone started to make a grab for their favorites so we did the same.

"Honestly, they expect us to move after eating this? They're going to have to roll us out of here!"

I threw my head back in laughter. "I know! Mm my sister was right, this is better than my mum's food! I didn't think that was possible."

"Told you Lenny!" Ann yelled down the table with her mouth stuffed with baked potato. Everyone around her laughed at her overflowing mouth.

"Wow, _that's_ your sister? No wonder Roger's got a thing for her. She's bloody beautiful. Oh, I mean, not that you're not or anything."

"Don't worry, I know she's the "pretty one." She's been telling me that our parents should've switched our names."

"What do you mean switch?" she asked, her mouth stuffed like Ann's.

"Well, you know. Since Helen of Troy was so insanely beautiful and I'm…not."

"Shut up. You are beautiful. You're not in your face beautiful, but there's a subtle beauty to you. Trust me, I know this stuff. I read Witch Weekly all the time at home."

I didn't want to let her know how much of an affect her words had on me. No one outside of family had ever told me that I was pretty, let alone beautiful. "Alright, whatever," I said with an eye roll. "Thanks."

"We're going to work on your self esteem this year, got it? You'll be my little project!"

"Oh great! Just what I need, more work this year!"

"How do you know we'll be so busy? Unless you got your schedule already."

"Antheia told me that the professors like to keep us busy with homework all the time. I doubt we'll have much time for Self Esteem 101."

"We'll make time. I can't have my best friend moping around all year. What a bummer that would be."

Best friend. She had called me her best friend. I had never had a real friend before since I had been home schooled and never really went outside of the house to play. I didn't realize till now that Mari really was my best friend, just like Cheyenne was Ann's. And friends are supposed to help out each other after all. I sighed, showing my defeat. She clapped her hands with what I thought was way too much excitement.

"It'll be fun I promise!" she told me, her eyes shining.

"I hope so. Between this and homework, I'm going to be exhausted!"

"I'll make it worth your time, I promise!" She twisted me into a tight hug. "We'll get you feeling pretty in no time!" Satisfied, she went back to her meal.

After we stuffed ourselves full with dinner and again with dessert, we waited for the end of the feast. Ann said on the train that Dumbledore would say a few words and then the prefects would take us back to our common room. He stood from his center spot at the staff table and cleared his throat loudly. Everyone settled down, eager to get back to their common rooms and go to sleep after a long day. I was eager just to hear him speak since we missed the first opportunity.

"Before we go off to bed, I have a few start-of-term notices for you all. First years, it is forbidden to enter the forest at any time for any reason. This applies to all pupils and I do mean _all _pupils." His kind eyes flashed to a set of red haired twins at the Gryffindor table. I looked to Mari, who just shrugged her shoulders and focused her attention back to Dumbledore.

"Also, Mr. Filch would like to remind students that magic is not to be used in the corridors. And the last notice is that Quidditch try outs will be taking place the second week of the term. Any student old enough that would like to try out for their House team should see Madam Hooch. That is all. Now, off to bed! First years, follow your prefects!"

There was a mad rush to the exit. Everyone was in a hurry to get back to their common rooms. I linked arms with Mari so I wouldn't lose her. While we made our way to one of our prefects, we were able to steal a few quick words with Rod.

"Hey, want to meet us for lunch tomorrow? Logan too of course," Mari and I asked.

"Yeah sure. I'll tell him tomorrow morning. I don't think I'll get a chance to get to him tonight."

"Alright, see you tomorrow!"

Our Houses had finally split, Gryffindor's heading towards one staircase and us to another.

Mari and I listened to what our prefects were saying. "Our common room is at the top of this tower," one of them exclaimed. She went on further. "We have incredible views of the lake too. Windows go all around the common room." The other prefect carried on. "What really makes Ravenclaw's common room unique is that we don't use passwords to get in, you have to answer a riddle. Now, everyone gather around so you can all see what we're talking about."

All of us crammed at the top of the staircase, trying to give everyone a good view of the door. I bronze eagle door knocker starred at us. We waited only a few minutes before the eagle asked us his riddle.

"Was the phoenix first young or born old?"

"Anyone have an answer?" asked the male prefect, whose name was Stephen. Everyone looked at each other with blank looks on our faces.

"Is there a right answer? It can be argued both ways, can't it?" one of the boys standing closer to the door asked.

Isabel, the other prefect, answered. "Well, pick a way to argue. If your argument makes sense, we'll probably be let in."

The boy stood silent as he tried to come up with an answer. "I say the phoenix was young first. It's impossible for something to be born old, so the phoenix is born young by default."

"Good point," the eagle responded. The door to our common room swung open, allowing us to enter. We were shocked as we walked into our new home. The room was large and circular and like Isabel said earlier, we had great views of the lake and mountains. It was decorated in our House colors, blue and bronze; the carpet was a dark blue, as was the domed ceiling. The ceiling was dotted with hundreds of stars and almost every wall space was covered with shelves full of books. Tables were spread out throughout the room and sofas were placed on the perimeter facing the windows. Directly across the door was a marble bust of someone I assumed to be Rowena Ravenclaw. It was beautiful.

"There are a few things that should be noted about the common room. All books are to be returned to the shelves at the end of the night when you're done with them. It gets really messy in here with all the books laid out on the tables. School wide curfew is 9 in the evening so you have to be back here by then or you'll get written up by Filch. Alright, we'll be taking you to the dormitories now. Through this doorway, and then it branches out two ways. Girls, follow Isabel to the right, lads, follow me to the left."

Mari and I fell in line behind the girl Cho and followed Isabel down the right passage. "These staircases to your right lead you to the upper dormitories. Being first years, you'll be on the ground level. Through this door." We entered the spacious room, also round. Straight ahead was another large window with a small sofa facing outwards. There were 5 large beds in the room, three on the right side and two on the left. A short passage on the left side of the room lead to our bathroom. "You'll see that your luggage is already here. If you have any questions, ask any me or any of the other girls. Goodnight!" She spun around swiftly and exited our room, shutting the door softly behind her. We all gathered our belongings and picked out our beds. Mari and I were able to get the beds on the left side of the room so it was just me and her. As we began unpacking, Mari started the introductions.

"Well, my name's Mari Davies, short for Mariselia, and this is Helen Eddy. How about you guys?"

Cho introduced herself and the other two girls, Marietta Edgecombe and Lanika Kitterming. Clearly, they had already made friends with each other. My first impression of Cho Chang was correct, she was very nice. She made conversation with Mari and me, sharing stories about home and how she was adjusting to the new school. She seemed particularly interested in Mari's stories about Roger. I shared a smile with her; as nice as she was, Cho was horrible at showing her interest in Roger. Marietta and Lanika were completely different from their friend. They were still nice, but they made no attempt to join in our conversation. They kept mostly to themselves, although occasionally they would break from their private conversation to ask Cho a question or get her opinion on something. I could tell that there was no chance of becoming part of their trio. We would be cordial with each other as long as we were here but we wouldn't become best friends anytime soon. Not that I minded, after all, I had Mari, Rod and Logan, even if we were in separate Houses.

We all went to the bathroom to wash up before we went to bed. It turned out to be quite large. The bathroom was done in the same decorating style as the common room with dark blue walls and bronze accents. There were two showers in the two back corners and a sink for each of us with storage space for our toiletries. In the space below were a few things already: body wash, shampoo, conditioner and a few towels.

"I didn't know we'd be given these. I stocked up on enough supplies to get me through Christmas!" Mari exclaimed. Cho and I laughed but like before, the other two showed no interest in what we were saying. I called Cho over to mine and Mari's sinks at the end of the row.

"So both of us noticed that Marietta and Lanika aren't really talking to us. Did we do something wrong? Like, are they mad at us?"

Cho sighed. "No, it's not you or you either. They just…take longer to warm up to someone. I'm sure they'll come around sooner or later. We'll be living with each other for the next seven years, it's going to be quite uncomfortable if there's all this tension between you all."

"Yeah, it would. Well, as long as we didn't do anything. That's all Cho, thanks!"

"No problem!"

"That's a relief," I said to Mari. "I thought we said something that rubbed them the wrong way."

"Same here. But Cho said they'd come around so we'll just leave them alone, yeah?"

Finished in the bathroom, we all walked back to our room. The weather had turned cold in the night and I was eager to crawl into my bed.

"Night everyone!" Cho yawned.

"Night!" we replied back. I turned over to face Mari.

"Night!" we whispered to each other. She closed the curtains around her bed and I could hear her snores minutes later. I drew the curtains closed around my bed, leaving enough moonlight in so I wouldn't be in total darkness. I went over the day's events in my head. I had been through so much emotionally that I was so surprised I didn't pass out immediately from exhaustion. This morning I was so terrified of leaving home; now, I felt that this was home. I was thankful that I made some friends with some great people and was nervous about the Logan and Odessa situation. Most of all, I was happy that I was here at Hogwarts. My first day here and so much had happened already. I couldn't wait to see what this term would hold for me. I closed my eyes, feeling the familiar flutter of nervousness in my stomach as I thought about tomorrow's lessons. Worry about those in the morning, I told myself. So I did, and I drifted off into a deep sleep.

****

"Hey, wake up! It's time for breakfast!" A bright light blinded me.

"Alright, I'm up I'm up! Get that light out of my face," I mumbled.

"I would if I could but it would be pretty impossible to move the sun," Mari joked.

"Why are we even getting this much sunlight?" I asked. "We're on the west side of the castle. Doesn't the sun rise in the east?"

"I think so, but the sun is high up. I let you sleep in a bit but now it's time to get up. C'mon, bathroom is empty, the others left about five minutes ago."

"What time is it?"

"Um, according to that clock over there," she said pointing to a clock near the exit, "about 8:30."

I jumped out of bed. "Mari, I still have to shower and everything! You should've woke me up earlier!" I raced around trying to get everything I needed. I ran to the bathroom and jumped into the shower.

"At least I know for tomorrow, right?" I heard Mari yelling from the bedroom. "I'll wait for you in the common room, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be right out! I'm just taking a quick shower right now."

I finished my shower in record time, got dressed, ran a brush through my hair and quickly styled my hair into two plaits. I put my uniform on and gave myself a once over in the mirror. I loved the uniform they had for us to wear. It was a simple white shirt with a gray sweater over and a matching gray skirt. It was quite cute, especially when we put on the ties that went with it, blue and bronze stripes of course. The only thing was that my face looked exceptionally plain.

"Mari, how much time do we have?" I yelled to the common room.

"About five minutes, why?"

"I need to get something real fast! I'll be out in a bit!"

I didn't have much time. I grabbed my robe and school bag and ran up the stairs to the second year's dormitory. There room was exactly the same as ours, so I knew that the bathroom was on the left side. I recognized Ann's make up bag sitting on her sink, which is exactly what I was looking for. I had made a habit of using her make up when she wasn't aware. I'd been doing it for about a year now and she never suspected me. Hopefully, she would keep thinking that she was using too much. I quickly put on some foundation, eyeliner and blush. I found one of her lipglosses and threw it in my bag. Finished, I put the bag back where it was and ran down the stairs and into the common room where Mari was waiting for me.

"Perfect timing. Now let's go, we don't want to miss our schedules." Together we raced down the spiral staircase and made our way to the Great Hall. We made it just in time as Professor Flitwick, Ravenclaw's Head of House, was beginning to make his way along the table to hand out our class schedules. We took our seats next to Antheia, Cheyenne and Roger.

"Hi Ann, you don't mind us sitting here do you?"

"Not at all. Hey, are you wearing make up?"

Oh no, I thought. She's caught me. "Um yeah. It's not too much or anything is it?" I said.

"No it's good. Did you borrow it from one of your dorm mates?"

"Yeah, Mari let me borrow some."

"How nice. So Mari," Ann said, directing her attention to Mari. "What's it like being Roger's little sister?"

"Oh, whatever. He spends most of his time playing Quidditch."

Roger overheard. "Do not!"

"Do too!" Mari laughed leaning over to look at him. She turned back to Antheia. "He said that the reason why he practices so much is so he can get—"

"Mari!" he interrupted quickly. "Mum sent you this letter. You missed the post this morning," he told her.

"Oh, that reminds me! Lenny, Mum and Dad sent you this." She tossed me a small box. "I have no idea what it is, I didn't open it."

"I would hope not," I responded as I tore the box open. "By the way, did Argo come to the table?"

"Yeah. He had a bit of my breakfast. He's fine."

"Whoa, Helen, you have an owl? Nice. I've been trying to get Mum to buy me one sine I got my letter. Roger got one when he made the team," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"That's because I actually _achieved_ something. Getting into Hogwarts is no big deal when you've known you were going here since you were six."

"So Len, what is it?"

"Hold up, there's a note." I recognized Mum's neat handwriting. "Thought you would want to have this as a reminder of home. Love, Mum" At the bottom of the note Dad had scrawled "Don't take it out if you're at the table. Love you." Curious, I peered inside the box. Packed inside was my stuffed rabbit Larry. I couldn't believe I had forgotten him when I went through my mental list of things to take to Hogwarts. He had been another favorite toy when I was little. While he wasn't on the same level as my other rabbit that I _had _remembered to pack, he was still pretty important to me. Larry and my other rabbit used to be best friends. I wanted so much to take him out of the box and give him a hug but Dad had been right. If I took him out now where everyone could see, I might never hear the end of it. Instead, I had Ann look inside the box to see what I got.

"Aw, is that Larry? Mum sent me Max," Ann said. She pointed to a box under the table with her bag. Max was her stuffed dog.

"Who is Larry?" Mari nudged.

"I'll show you when we get to the room," I said as I stuffed him into my school bag. "It would be really bad if I showed you now, trust me."

"Got it. Hey, put some bacon on my plate would you?" The once empty trays were now full of breakfast foods. Bacon, toast, eggs, cinnamon rolls, there was so much food it was impossible to decide what to eat. I got Mari her bacon and picked out a large cinnamon roll and some bacon for myself. Professor Flitwick had almost reached our spot at the table.

"I wonder if we'll have any classes with Logan or Rod."

"I hope so. It would suck being able to only see them at lunch."

"Who are Logan and Rod?" Ann asked.

Mari answered her. "Logan and Roderick are these two boys we met on the boat ride over last night. They're in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor."

"Well sometimes we have lessons with the Hufflepuff's for the double lessons. Gryffindor's and Slytherin's usually end up having their double lessons together. Quite odd though, considering the rivalry between those two Houses is off the charts. It's beyond me why they'd stick those two together," said Cheyenne.

"You know Dumbledore is all about House unity. He probably thinks that by forcing them to have a lesson together, they'll be decent to each other," responded Roger. "That'll happen when Snape cracks a smile."

"Well, let's hope we get a class with Logan," I said to Mari. "Here comes Flitwick now."

"Good morning Ms. Eddy, Ms. Davies! Here are your schedules!" The short wizard seemed incredibly happy for so early in the morning, but I had the idea that he was this way all the time.

"Yes! Double Herbology with Hufflepuff right after breakfast!"

"Really?" I checked my schedule. Sure enough, we had Double Herbology after breakfast then Transfiguration. After lunch we had Defense Against the Dark Arts and we were free the rest of the day.

"Ugh, look at tomorrow's schedule though. Brutal."

Mari read the schedule out loud. "Potions, Flying, lunch, Double History of Magic and Charms. Oh you're right. Potions and History of Magic the same day. Horrible." Both of us had been warned by our siblings that History of Magic was brutal to sit through. Professor Binns, the only ghost professor at Hogwarts, was incredibly boring while reading out the history of various wars that took place in history. Potions, said Ann, depends on the person. "Some are really good at it and have no problem with the class. Others like me or horrible and he gives the bad students a really hard time. And he favors the Slytherin's all the time. Completely unfair."

"Who do we have History of Magic with?" I asked.

"Slytherin's of course. Sounds fun!" she replied with false enthusiasm.

"We'll deal with it tomorrow," I told her. "Hurry up, I want to get to Herbology early. Make a good first impression and all."

"Good idea." She ate the rest of her bacon and eggs as fast as she could. I turned around and tried to find Rod at the Gryffindor table behind us. He was sitting a few people down.

"Hey Rod, what's your schedule?" He excused himself from his friends and walked over to me.

"No classes with you and Mari."

"Yeah, I know I saw. What about a free period?"

"I have one at the end of the day. You?" he asked.

"Same! That's awesome!"

"Yeah I know. Hey, I'll meet you and Mari outside by the lake then, okay? Then you can meet some of my mates."

"Sure, we'll be there. See you at lunch!"

"See you!"  
I returned back to my table. "Hey Mari, did you hear? We have free period with Gryffindor's. I told Rod we'd meet him by the lake."

"Excellent! You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go. Bye Ann."

"Oh, bye!" she squeezed my arm.

"Have fun at your first class you two!" said Cheyenne.

"Don't get into trouble!" yelled Roger as we walked out of the Great Hall.

"Who was the girl sitting with your sister and my brother? She sounded really nice."

"That's Cheyenne O' Brien. She's Ann's best friend. She doesn't have any siblings so she kind of treats me like one when we're around each other. She's so nice."

We walked outside of the castle down to the greenhouses. It was only morning but we could tell already that it was going to be a hot day. The sun was already starting to rise higher into the sky. Thankfully, we'd be out of the greenhouse before the sun was at its peak.

"There they are!" Mari pointed out a large clear building at the other end of the castle. "I think I see some Hufflepuff's there already." Mari was right, there were a few Hufflepuffs standing around the entrance as well as Cho and her friends and a few Ravenclaw boys. Logan wasn't there yet so we decided to introduce ourselves to the boys in our House.

"Hi, I'm Mari and this is Helen. We're in Ravenclaw too."

"Yeah," one of them said. "We saw you in our group last night in the common room. I'm Eddie Carmichael and this is Alex and Emmerson." The other two nodded. Eddie got a closer look at Mari. "Hey, isn't your brother Roger Davies?"

"Yeah. You know him?"

"Well, not _know_ him but know _of_ him. He's an incredible Quidditch player. We saw him flying around last night on the field. He has captain written all over him."

"Well that's what he's going for. The way he practices I wouldn't be surprised if he was picked. He's really good."

Eddie turned to me and gave me a once over. "And you're Antheia's sister right?" I nodded my head yes.

"She's really nice. She helped me and my mates find our way to the Great Hall this morning, eh guys? We got caught on a moving staircase and got a bit lost."

"That's Ann, always helping people out." It was weird hearing people other than my parents praise Ann the way these boys were. I looked to Mari to see if she felt the same way; I was surprised to see a look of pride on her face. I could see that no matter how little they connected, Mari admired her older brother and she felt proud of him when someone acknowledged his skills. Why can't you feel the same way? I asked myself. All you ever feel is jealousy and annoyance. Logan's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hey, did I miss anything?"

"Logan!" Mari cried. "No, you're just in time. Professor Sprout hasn't let us in yet. You're safe."

"Good. So how are you guys doing?" he asked.

"Pretty good," I answered. "The better question is, how are you doing? We saw what happened last night."

His face clouded over for a second, then returned to normal. "You mean that Odessa girl? Whatever. I didn't expect anything less from a Slytherin. I'll be fine," he assured us. We heard a loud cough from behind us that caused the three of us to turn. Eddie smiled in a meaningful sort of way.

"Oh, sorry. Logan, this is Eddie. Eddie, this is Logan."

They shook hands, though Eddie seemed to grab Logan's a little tight. A tension rose in the air. I was about to say something when a kind voice broke it up.

"Good morning class! Into the greenhouse, everybody now!" a stout witch beckoned. She seemed to be dirty with her dirt covered robes and hat, but I guess that comes with the job as Herbology professor. As we walked into the greenroom, I could already feel the heat from the sun. I pitied the class that would be here closer to lunch. It would be boiling in here. Upon entering the room there was a large table. Taking a look around, it was safe to say that it was the only empty surface in the greenroom. Every other table was covered with plants that moved, made noises or were so large it looked like it could swallow a person. We took our seats on the stools around the table; without realizing it, we had sat with Ravenclaws on one side and the Hufflepuffs on the other. We looked to Professor Sprout.

"All settled? Alright, good. My name is Professor Sprout. As you can see I'm the Herbology professor here at Hogwarts. I'm going to start today off with roll call. Just say you're here when I call your name so I can put your name to your face, yes?"

As Professor Sprout began calling names, Mari, Logan and I started talking some more.

"So, what's your schedule? Anymore classes with us?" Mari asked him.

"I don't think so. I have Defense Against the Dark Arts with Rod though. That's tomorrow though. And then Hufflepuff has Potions with Slytherin's this term. That'll be fun!" he said with heavy sarcasm.

"Mariselia Davies?"

"Just Mari please!"

"Right. Helen Eddy?"

"Right here."

We went back to our conversation. "So do you really think you'll be okay with Odessa in your class? We saw her talking to some of the other Slytherin's last night. It looked like she was trying to turn them against you."

"Nah, don't worry about me."

"Well," said Mari. "If you need help building an army against her, we'll be the first to sign up!"

"Logan Stebbins?" He gave a small wave.

"Well that's it for the roll. Today, we're not going to start anything. I just want to go over what we'll be covering this term as a class, safety and the like, and then I'll let you out when we're finished talking. It's a simple day," Professor Sprout said with a kind smile. "Now Herbology isn't extremely difficult if you follow instructions. As your first years, most of the lessons will be the study of magical plants and how we can use them. About half term we'll begin dealing with the plants we've covered in a hands on matter. When I say "hands on" I'm referring to planting and taming. The book I've assigned you, _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_, will be crucial to your learning this first half of the term and you will be needing it for every class, so don't forget it!" She paused to catch her breath.

"Does anyone have any questions so far?" Everyone shook their heads no. So far, this class seemed relatively easy and straightforward.

"Right. Well I guess I'll dive right into safety. Now, this doesn't really apply until we begin dealing with the plants but, when the time comes, your dragon hide gloves will be necessary in every class. I don't want to risk any student getting bit or injured by any of the plants. Any student that forgets their gloves has to miss out on the lesson and gets 5 points docked for their House, understand? This rule only applies to those with long hair and again, only needs to be followed when we work with the plants. All long hair needs to be tied back in either a ponytail or a plait. I've seen many people break this rule and have gotten their hair stuck in a plant or it grabs onto your hair and many times we've had to cut the person free. This girl right here," she said motioning to Marietta's hair in a high ponytail, "is a fine example of how to wear one's hair. Same with the young girl in the back," motioning to my two plaits. "Keep it out of the face and out of plants reach," Professor Sprout warned. "Now, is there anyone that doesn't have the supplies needed for this class? The gloves or the book?"

Emmerson, the boy Eddie introduced to us, and a Hufflepuff girl raised their hands.

"Alright, you two, come to the front of the room over to me. The rest of you are excused. Don't forget to bring your books next class!"

We all gathered our things and walked back out to the grounds. Eddie ran ahead of his mates to catch up with Mari, Logan and I. He turned to close the conversation off to Logan.

"Do you two want to hang out with us in the common room before the next lesson?" Eddie was a bold boy, I'd give him that. Unfortunately, his boldness was coming off as quite rude. Mari clearly felt the same way as she answered, "Sorry, but we're going to hang out with our _friend_ Logan by the lake. Sorry." She linked arms with both of us and steered us towards the lake.

"That was very assertive of you Mari. I'm shocked," said Logan when we had put a good distance between us and Eddie. "I didn't think you had it in you to say that."

"Well he was being so rude to you! What else was I supposed to say to him? Helen, whatever you do, don't agree to go out with him."

I stopped walking to stare her down. "What do you mean, "go out with him?" One, I would never, not with him. Two, he wasn't even interested. You're mental." We stopped walking and sat down in a shady spot near the lake. Mari gave me a look.

"Not interested? Are you blind Helen? He was drooling! And did you see how he cut off Logan? He was obviously threatened by Logan as another male. He thinks that by cutting Logan out, he'll be more noticeable. He wants you."

Skeptical, I looked to Logan for support. "Logan, you're a boy. What do you think, because I saw no sign that he likes me. All I saw was arrogance."

He turned thoughtfully back at Eddie and his friends, who were shooting daggers back at him. "It's pretty obvious. He likes you." Mari smirked.

"Oh come on! He so doesn't!"

"He so does!" they replied back.

Logan went on to explain that the glares he was getting from Eddie were because Eddie was jealous that Logan was with me. "He sees me as a threat. An obstacle, an inconvenience if you will, in the way between him and you, his one true love," he said with false seriousness. Mari threw her head back in laughter.

"Mari this isn't funny! He's revolting! I don't want him lusting after me!"

"Lusting! After you! His true love!" She could barely get the words out she was laughing so hard. Even Logan was laughing.

"You two are ridiculous! I'm going back to the castle." I turned on my heel and stormed to the entrance. I didn't even pause to stop when Mari and Logan tried to get me to slow down. I was so upset! How could they laugh at a situation as serious as this? I couldn't have someone like Eddie Carmichael liking me!

"Hey Helen!" I heard him call out to me as I passed him and his mates. "Is something wrong? Can I help you out?" Ha! The source of my problem was asking me for help! "No thanks Eddie," I called back with a fake smile on my face.

"I'm here for you if you need me!"

Sure, like I would go to him for help. Even if my issues had nothing to do with him, I still wouldn't go to him for help. He was so pushy and I didn't like that in a person. Knowing that he liked me, I could now see that his compliment about Antheia had merely been his way of trying to kiss up to me. Like saying nice things about my sister could get him on my good side. I turned around to see where Mari and Logan were. They had almost caught up to me, but I was still upset with them for laughing. I decided to be nice and wait for them at the large doors. When they caught up with me, they were full of apologies.

"I'm sorry for laughing at you."

"Yes, we both are. It's really a horrible situation that you're stuck in. I'll make it my goal to make sure you shake him off for good."

"Sorry for walking out on you guys. It's him I'm mad at, not you guys."

"Hey, I got to make my way to class. I got caught on a moving stairway on my way here. Don't want that to happen again."

"Got caught on a stairway? So did Edd-"

I interrupted Mari before she could finish. "Don't! Don't say his name."

She nodded. "Sorry. What I meant was, so did That Boy." She looked to me for approval; I answered with a short nod.

"Well, like I said, I've got to go. See you at lunch, right? By the lake?"

"Yeah, we'll be there!" He waved goodbye and disappeared into the castle.

"Should we get to class too?" I asked Mari. "I think it's on the second floor but there's no harm in getting to class early."

"I guess we should. Don't want to risk being out here any longer if you know what I mean."

"An excellent point that I didn't think of. Come on, let's get there fast so we can get good seats. And by good I mean as far away from That Boy as possible."

We darted into the castle quickly and raced to class. If this morning was any indicator for the rest of the year, I would be in for a very long term.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When we Mari and I arrived at Transfiguration, a few students had already gathered. There were the other two boys from our year and Cho. Since this wasn't a double class, it would just be the first years of Ravenclaw. We made our way over to Cho who was standing off to the side of the boys.

"Hey, where did Marietta and Lanika go? Weren't they with you?" Mari asked.

"Oh, yeah, they just had to run to the dormitory real fast to get their books. They didn't use their school bags today."

"That's kind of stupid. What if we didn't get off early from Herbology? They'd be late to McGonagall's class. Not exactly the class you want to be late to, you know?"

"I think this is just a one time sort of thing," Cho said in defense of her friends. "I'm sure they'll put their bags to good use tomorrow."

"You're probably right. I'm sure they will."

We were surprised when the door opened in front of us. Professor McGonagall was standing there, stern as always. "Go on in and take your seats. I have to run to the teacher's lounge. I'll be back momentarily." She walked briskly down the corridor.

We walked into the classroom. It was a decent size, built to accommodate a class twice the size of ours. There were ten tables, five on each side of the aisle way, made to fit two students.

"At least we won't have to worry about Him trying to sit next to us," Mari leaned over to tell me.

"We're not taking any chances. Go to the front desk and let me sit on the wall side. I don't want him leaning over the aisle trying to talk to me."

"Good thinking. Maybe we can get Cho and Marietta or Lanika to sit behind us so he won't bother you from behind."

Luck was on our side that morning as Cho and Marietta sat down in the table behind us and the two boys, whose names I learned to be David and Christian, sat at the table across from Mari and I. I was completely surrounded. Eddie noticed too as he and his mates walked into the classroom right before Professor McGonagall. He made no attempt to hide his disappointment at the seating arrangement. He sat at the table behind David and Christian with Alex while Emmerson sat with Lanika behind Cho and Marietta. He tried to get my attention but I ignored his wave and focused on McGonagall.

"Good morning students."

"Good morning, Professor McGonagall," we echoed.

"I assume you all of you have your school books for this class. _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration_?" We all nodded our heads. Everyone had made sure that we had our books for this class. We might have gotten away with it in Herbology but Transfiguration was a serious class and we had a serious professor.

"Very good. I will begin by calling out roll. When I call your name, please raise your hand."

There was nothing but silence as McGonagall went about calling roll; her presence demanded respect and we knew better than to try to hold a conversation in her class. It was amazing that we were already so scared of her and we had only been around her by herself for a total of ten minutes. We waited for Professor McGonagall to finish roll.

"Good," she said putting the roll back on her desk. "Everyone is here and I don't have to repeat anything. Welcome to Transfiguration, perhaps the most difficult branch of magic there is to learn. If not done properly, or without your full attention, you can cause serious injury to yourself or the other students in this room. There will be no dilly-dallying in my class. Your full attention will be needed at all times. In this class you'll be learning the basics of Transfiguration before we move on to applying those skills. We have a lot to cover this year so we're going to jump right into lessons. Please take out a piece of parchment and a quill and start writing what's on the board." She pointed her wand at the board behind her and notes started appearing. We did as we were told and began to write furiously, trying to keep up with the chalk.

"The very first thing we need to know about magic is Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. There are five Principal Exceptions to magic, which are the following."

The lesson went on with her lecturing and us taking notes for the rest of the period. When Professor McGonagall had announced the end of the lesson, I was more than happy to pack my quill and notes.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one with a severe hand cramp."

Mari lifted up her right arm to show her limp hand. "No, it's not just you."

"Hey, you guys have sore hands too?"

I took a deep breath before turning around, because I recognized that voice. I put on my fake smile and turned to face him.

"Hi Eddie."

"Hi! So how did you guys like the class? It seems like it's going to be a really tough year, huh?"

"Yeah, it's going to be pretty difficult. Well, Mari and I have to meet some friends up for lunch so I'll see you later!"

Mari and I began to walk down the corridor but Eddie caught me by my school bag.

"You guys are welcome to have lunch with me and my mates. You know, get to know your fellow Ravenclaw," he said with a hopeful smile.

"No mercy!" Mari whispered to me.

"Sorry Eddie, but we've already made plans. Maybe some other time!" We kept walking down the corridor towards the Great Hall before he could say anything further.

"Helen! What did you do?" Mari cried out when we were a safe distance away.

"What are you talking about? I told him we weren't going to eat with him. That's what you told me to say!"

"I told you to show no mercy. What was that "maybe some other time" all about? Now we have lunch with him sometime in the future. You owe him lunch! That's the worst thing you could have said!"

Her words slowly sank in; I had messed up! "Oh Mari, you're right! How do I get out of it? You have to help me!"

She sighed. "There's nothing I can do. We're just going to have to stick it out."

I was in a terrible mood when we got to the Great Hall to get some food before we left for the lake. By the time we got there, Logan and Rod were already there.

"Where are your friends at?" I asked Rod as I waved hello to Logan.

"They went to get food for all of us. But I see we're going to have a lot left over," motioning to the food Mari and I brought.

"Oh well. So it's just the four of us for now. We're like the Fantastic Four minus the superpowers," I joked. I heard silence and looked up to find three blank faces looking back at me.

"It's a Muggle comic book." More blank stares. They didn't even know what comic books were. Then I remembered that our almost Muggle lifestyle wasn't shared by all and that my friends had grown up completely separate from Muggle's. "It's a book that's told with pictures. My cousin reads them all the time. I'll bring one back after Christmas to show you, it's really neat."

"Oh. Yeah, sounds interesting," Logan said. I sensed his sarcasm.

"It really is. Not all Muggle stuff is boring you know." The looks on their faces said otherwise. "Okay, my goal this year is to show you guys that some of the Muggle things are pretty cool."

"If you say so Helen," replied Rod. "But it's going to be hard. I mean, they don't use magic. At all. They don't know it exists. Where's the fun I ask you? Where?"

"I will prove you wrong if it's the last thing I do!"

"Alright, prove us wrong Len," Mari smiled.

"Now?"

"Why not? We're not doing anything, might as well show us the fascinating aspects of the Muggle world."

Where would I begin? Since I didn't grow up in the wizarding world, I didn't know what they didn't have versus what we have. The telly sounded like a good place to start.

"Well we have really cool shows on the telly."

"The telly? Is that a game?" asked Logan.

"You don't know what a television is? Wow. This is going to be hard to describe. Okay, so it's like a box thing, okay? And on the front of the box, facing the sofa or whatever because they usually go in the living room, is a screen. And on the screen there are pictures. But the pictures move and sound comes out of it so you can hear the people on the screen talking. And there's different stations, like a radio, so you can change the pictures to fit whatever you feel like watching at the time. Do you understand?"

"Erm…kind of. So it's like the pictures in a photo album but bigger and it goes on longer?"

"Yeah, kind of. I'll ask Ann and Cheyenne for a better description. Mine was kind of bad."

"Just a bit," Rod laughed. "Look, they're coming back with the food!" He pointed up to the castle where two figures were walking towards us with their arms full. "I'll be right back, I'm going to help them."

"So what class did you have after Herbology Logan?"

"I had Charms. It was pretty cool. It looks like it's going to be pretty interesting."

"How was Professor Flitwick as a professor? We haven't been around him for very long."

"He's really laid back but he can be stern if he has to be. At least that's what I got from the class. He let us out a bit early like Professor Sprout."

I looked to Mari. "At least we have one guaranteed good class tomorrow. That and Flying."

"Oh don't remind me about tomorrow." She looked to Logan to explain. "We have the schedule from Hades tomorrow. Here, see?"

"Potions first thing in the morning? And History of Magic right after lunch? Ouch."

"I know right?"

"Hey we're back! Guys, this is Cormac and Antony," Rod said. Both of them had good looks, one with blonde hair, the other with black. They also had an athletic build, definitely the Quidditch player type. They nodded to us as they placed the food on the ground.

"Does anyone happen to have a blanket or something we can put the food on? I don't know about you, but I'm not that fond of eating dirt," Mari said.

"Here, use my robe. Just turn it inside out in case food gets on it so no one will see," I offered.

"Thanks Helen!" Rod grinned at me. We spent the rest of our lunch period eating and making small conversation. We asked each other simple questions just to keep some sort of talk going. I learned that Mari was allergic to cats (I warned her to keep out of the second year's dormitory because of Ann's cat, Nyx), Logan had claustrophobia, Rod had a secret desire to drive a Muggle car and Cormac was scared to eat Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans after he ate one that tasted of earwax. Antony didn't speak much. He would laugh with us whenever we did but he was quiet for a majority of the conversation. I did notice that he would make small glances at Mari. I made note of this so I could share with her when we were alone. We broke up the talk about fifteen minutes before our next lessons were to start. We all figured that this was enough time for us to gather our things and make our way to class. After everyone had picked up their things, we made our way to the castle together. Everyone split up when we entered, Logan going left and Rod and his friends going right. Mari and I headed upstairs to the third floor where our Defense Against the Dark Art's class was to be held.

"So, how did you like Rod's friends," I asked.

"They seemed to be pretty cool. Cormac is really funny. Didn't get much off of Antony, but he seems nice."

"Did you notice that he kept sneaking looks at you?"

She stopped mid step. "What are you talking about?"

"I caught Antony a few times looking at you." She shook her head.

"You must have caught him looking at something else." She started walking back up the stairs to class.

"I don't think so. I've seen that look before. It's the same look I've seen your brother wear whenever my sister is around. I think he likes you!" I teased.

"Oh please. I mean, he's nice but not my type at all."

"Not your type? What's your type then? If I have to suffer through those self esteem classes, then I think I've earned the right to set you up with someone. A nice Ravenclaw boy maybe."

She shot me a look of disgust. "Ew, a Ravenclaw? I think you know better than me that the boys in our House aren't exactly winners in the love category. If anything, set me up with a Huff—" She stopped what she was saying mid-sentence, but I heard enough.

"A Hufflepuff perhaps? Do you have your eyes on a Hufflepuff? Who?"

She hesitated at first before she leaned in to whisper her answer in my ear. "It's Logan." She stood back straight to see my reaction, confusion on her face.

"Aw! That's cute!"

"No it's not!" she hissed. "It's horrible! He's such a good friend, you know? Why do I have to think he's cute?" She put her head in my shoulder. "I don't know what to do."

"I take it telling him how you feel is out of the question, yes?"

"Of course! I would never tell him! Unless he felt the same way, then I would tell him."

"I don't know how to help you Mari. I've never been in a situation like this before. What if we go to Antheia for help?"

She paused to think for a second. "Yes, that could work. She'll keep it secret, right? I don't want this getting out to anyone."

"She'll keep it secret. She can be a know-it-all sometimes, but she wouldn't tell a secret if it was really important. We can ask her later in the common room."

"Yeah! Sounds like a plan!"

"Alright, we'll worry about this later, alright? Let's get going to Defense, Ann didn't tell me much about this class. I have no idea what to expect. Did Roger tell you anything?"

"Not much. He said that Professor Quirrell was really paranoid though. Kind of twitchy, jumpy. And he always wears a turban on his head. But he didn't tell me about the class."

"I guess we're on our own for this one. Oh no, look who's here already." Standing right next to the door was none other than That Boy and his mates.

"They never leave his side, do they?" Mari whispered.

"Hi Mari! Hi Helen! How was lunch with the enemy?" he said with a playful smile.

"The enemy?"

"Yeah, your mates from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Get it now? Since they're not from Ravenclaw and with the House Cup competition…"

"I get it. Funny," I said. I tried to change the subject but he kept going with his enemy talk. "You know, it's pretty wrong to pick another House over your own. I'm pretty sure that's an example of House disloyalty or something."

"Is it so wrong to want to hang out with other people? It's the beginning of the school year, right now I'm just concentrating on making new friends, no matter what House they're from. Except maybe Slytherin," replied Mari.

"No need to get defensive. I'm just saying, it would be nice to help our House win the House Cup this year and it's going to take a team effort." The door to the classroom opened, stopping Eddie from going on with his speech. Thank goodness! I thought. We weren't the only ones that had caught his words.

"Is he trying to get to you two, too?" I thought it was Cho that had asked that, but was surprised to see that it was Marietta that had spoken. These were the first words she had spoken directly towards Mari and me.

"What, that whole bit about House loyalty and junk? Yeah."

"What a pain in the arse. He got into it with me and Lanika before you guys showed up because we were talking to a few Gryffindors. The way he boasts about Ravenclaw, you'd think he was a Slytherin."

"Harsh but true words," I said back to her. I had never thought about it until she mentioned it. He definitely was sporting a superior attitude about being sorted into our House. "We'll just have to deal with it as it comes. I don't really know how we can tell him to stop without hurting his feelings."

"I'm pretty sure there's no kind way to tell a person to stop acting like a snob."

We all took our seats in the large classroom. Despite its size, it felt a lot more crammed. Different artifacts crowded every empty table surface with the exception of Quirrell's desk and the long tables that represented our desks. It looked a lot like one of the greenhouses, except there were Dark objects and books instead of plants. Standing at the desk in the front was Professor Quirell. At first glance, it seemed that Roger had been correct in his description of our professor. His hands were crossed nervously at his waist. His eyes darted from student to student, as if suspecting one of us was a fraud and we were going to leap out of nowhere and attack.

"This is going to be interesting," I whispered to Mari. She nodded her head in agreement, her eyes fixed curiously on Quirrell.

"He looks so…scared. What is he expecting from a bunch of first years? We can barely hold our wands properly. It's not like we're going to duel him."

We had all settled down in our seats and looked to the front. A quick glance around the room told me that we weren't the only students that were confused. Some, like Eddie and his mates, simply looked bored and were starring at the clock above the desk. We waited impatiently for Professor Quirrell to get his papers sorted. Finally, he stood and spoke to us.

"We-Welcome to De-Defense Against the D-Dark Arts. I am P-P-Professor Quirrell. We're going to start out the class with r-roll call. Then we'll m-m-move on to what we'll be l-learning this y-year."

The class dragged on until he cut the class short for the day.

"We'll b-begin t-taking notes n-next l-lesson."

"Definitely _not _looking forward to that."

"No kidding. I'm telling you, that stutter of his will drive me crazy. Sorry for the guy but really, an entire class period of stuttering about Dark Objects, Dark spells, and how to defend ourselves. Ridiculous."

"So, are we going to meet Rod and his mates at the lake again?" I asked.

"Yeah, let's go drop our stuff off in our dormitory first. I don't want to carry my bag all over the grounds." We ran up the stairs to Ravenclaw tower to drop off our things. We had forgotten about eagle's riddle until we came face to face with it again.

"Oh no!" cried Mari. "We have to answer the riddle ourselves now! Unless we want to wait around for another Ravenclaw to come up the tower."

"No, I don't want to leave everyone waiting. I guess we'll have to answer it ourselves."

"Yeah, prove ourselves to be real Ravenclaw's right?" She knocked tentatively on the door. The eagle asked his questions immediately.

"What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end, and the end of every race?"

We looked at each other with confused looks on our faces. "Um, can you repeat that riddle?" I asked. The eagle repeated the riddle and waited for us to answer.

"Okay. Let's think this through. The beginning of eternity would be…what would it be?"

"I don't know. Let's move on to the other parts. The end of time and space? I thought space had no end?"

"Yeah, same. It has to be easier than what we're making it out to be. We are Ravenclaw's. The Sorting Hat put us here for a reason. Think!"

"Okay, how about we write it down. Maybe it'll make more sense if we read it on paper."

"Good thinking." I took out a piece of parchment and wrote down the riddle we had been given. When I was done, I read it aloud, but very slow. Five minutes had passed.

"You know, I'm starting to regret being put here. Why couldn't we have a password like all the other Houses?" Mari complained.

"No, no. Wait. Okay, look at the words. The spelling of them, I mean."

"The beginning of eternity. Yeah, I see."

"The spelling Mari! The beginning of eternity is "E". Now look at the rest."

"The end of time and space. Okay, the end of time would be "E" again right? Oh! And so is space! Space ends in "E"!"

"Read the rest. It's the letter "E"! I'm positive it is!"

Mari went back to the eagle knocker. "Is the answer the letter "E"?"

"Good job," it replied and the door to our common room swung open.

"Yes! We did it!" we cried.

"Now we have to do this every time we want to go into our room for the next seven years," I said after the excitement had died down.

Her smile waned as she realized what I said. "Oh yeah. Well next time we'll make sure to come up with a group of people."

I laughed as we went to our common room to drop off our bags. Cho, Marietta and Lanika were sitting on their beds talking.

"Hi guys!" Cho said. "Want to hang out with us?"

"Sorry, but we've got plans to meet our friends by the lake. Thanks though!" I answered.

"Yeah, thanks for the offer," said Mari with a smile.

"No worries, see you both at dinner!"

We exited the common room and ran down the stairs. "I hope they don't think we bailed on them."

When we finally made it down to the lake (those moving staircases are far more common than we thought), Rod, Cormac and Antony were waiting for us.

"Hope we didn't keep you guys waiting very long."

"No, we were just watching the giant squid over there." Cormac pointed towards the lake where the squid had come to the surface for some sun. He was floating lazily at the surface. Some students were tossing food into his mouth. It had started to cool down so the weather was very nice, not hot like it was at lunch.

"So how was your last class?" I asked the boys.

"It was alright. We had Herbology with Sprout in the greenhouse. Looks like it's going to be an alright class."

"Yeah, me and Helen had that one first thing this morning with Hufflepuff."

"That's cool that you have a class with Logan."

"Don't you?" I asked. "I thought you did."

"Well, I do, but its Potions. No way am I going to try to talk to him in Professor Snape's class. I might as well put myself in detention for a month."

"Professor Snape? Roger's never told me about Professor Snape."

"Antheia told me about him. Apparently he favors Slytherin's since he's their Head of house. And he makes no attempt to hide it either."

"He's especially horrid to Gryffindor's."

Antony surprised Mari and me by speaking up. "During the roll call, he made a point to give all of the Slytherin's, well, I guess you'd call it a smile but it didn't look like one."

"And did you see the way he looked at Rod over here? If looks could kill."

"What? What?"

"To be fair, he looked at every Gryffindor the way he looked at me. But there was a certain look of hate that he showed me when he called my name."

"I wasn't exactly looking forward to this class in the first place, especially since it's the only one that Antheia has ever had trouble with. Now I have to worry about being targeted by a teacher who is fully supportive of favoritism."

"At least it's not Double Potions. It's just us and the professor. Though now that I think of it, that doesn't sound too pleasant either."

"Honestly," spoke Cormac. "I think it's just one of those classes that you suffer through with your mouth shut. Don't speak unless you absolutely have to, don't look him in the eye, just do what you're told with your head down."

"Cormac's right. Potions isn't exactly a class you try to have fun in or make the best of. We only have to take it for five years though. Only up to our O.W.L.s and then we can drop it since we're supposed to start focusing on our career courses after that," spoke Antony again.

"I wish we could just skip these first five years. But still have the knowledge that we'd learn during those years."

"No kidding," said Rod. "But, where's the fun in that?" We all laughed. He looked at me and laughed again.

"What?" I asked still laughing.

"You look funny when you laugh!"

"I do not!"

"Yeah, you look like a squirrel or something. You cover your mouth and your laugh is all cute and tiny."

"Oh my gosh, Helen he's right. How cute though!"

"Is not!"

"Helen, just go with it. It's really cute anyway."

"You guys are so mean!"

"Mari's right, just go with it. The damage is done. You are now cute little Helen the Squirrel."

"This is going to follow me for the rest of my school years isn't it?" I said with a small laugh.

"Yes it is!" Mari said excitedly.

I shrugged it off and spent the rest of the afternoon talking to everyone. When he was done with his classes, Logan joined us like he had for lunch. We spent the next two hours sitting by the lake laughing and sharing stories. Sitting there and looking at my friends, I thought back to that panicked feeling I felt yesterday morning as I left for the Hogwarts Express. I couldn't believe that I had made so many friends in only two days. It was such an odd feeling being this happy. I didn't remember feeling this happy about anything.

"What are you smiling about Helen?" I snapped out of my thoughts to see that everyone was looking at me.

"Oh, nothing," I said.

"Well it's time to go to dinner. Come on!" Mari and Rod pulled me up by the arms and we all walked back towards the castle. The smell of roasted chicken and potatoes hit me as soon as we entered the grand entrance. We said goodbye to each other as we entered the Great Hall, since we had to leave to sit at our House tables. Luckily, Rod was able to sit on the side of the Gryffindor table closest to ours so we could still talk to each other, even if it was kind of difficult since the sounds of everyone's conversation echoed in the grand room. We tried to talk for a few minutes but the noise was too distracting; we said goodbye again and went back to our tables. We were sitting next to Antheia and Cheyenne again.

"So Lenny, how was your first day of lessons?"

"Not bad. Herbology looks like it could be fun. Transfiguration is going to kill me already, I just know it. And Defense Against the Dark Arts, well that one is just. I don't know. It doesn't seem as thrilling as it does on paper, I'll put it that way."

"I know what you mean. Professor Quirrell knows his stuff though. It's just the way he presents everything. It's almost like having another Professor Binns if Professor Binns had a stutter. Transfiguration isn't all bad though. McGonagall is strict as can be, but it's relatively easy once you grasp the concept. Just make sure you practice whenever you can."

"Definitely," Cheyenne spoke up. "She really notices when you don't do the extra work. Remember last year and she would always give me and Roger extra work, Ann?"

"That's because you and Roger were always drawing on parchment when she wasn't looking," my sister giggled.

"Anyways, if you need any help with anything just come up to my dorm or find me in the common room and I'll help you out."

"Except with Potions, right?" said Mari.

"Way to tell everyone my weak spot, Len. No one needs to know I'm horrible at Potions."

"Calm down Ann, it's just Mari."

"Don't forget, you told everyone at the lake too."

"Helen!" Ann hissed at me.

"What's the big deal? So what if you suck at Potions. Everyone is entitled to one horrible class." She tried to interrupt me, but I kept going. "I don't care how perfect you try to come off as in front of everyone."

"Fine. As long as you don't go telling every person you meet in the corridor."

"No problem big sister. I'll keep my mouth shut." I shot her a smile and struck up a conversation with Cheyenne.

"So what are second year classes like?"

"Definitely much harder. We're learning more complex spells in Charms and Transfiguration and we got to go into Greenhouse Three today for Herbology."

"What's so special about that one," asked Mari.

"That's where the more dangerous plants are. We're also jumping right into the hands on lessons since all the basic notes have been taken, for all of our classes actually. Like in Herbology, we started working with the mandrakes today. They're pretty deadly if you hear them crying so we had to wear these really thick earmuffs. But that's the sort of stuff to expect when you two start next year."

We talked about different classes they were taking and Mari and I asked them questions about some of the classes we would be taking tomorrow.

"Well, you know all about Potions from what we've told you and your friends that took the class already, so we won't say anything more on that. History of Magic is just boring, plain and simple. There is no fun whatsoever in the class."

Cheyenne threw in her opinion on the subject. "You would think that having a ghost as your professor would make the class more fun, right? No. It doesn't. On the flip side, this is an excellent class to be in if you want to have a chat with your mates. He's so oblivious to everything else that goes on his class other than his notes that you would have to light a firework to get his attention. Passing notes is easy."

"Just don't make a habit of it Len," interrupted Ann, giving her friend a glare. "You need to focus still and take good notes. His final exams are a pain. You have so many dates and names to remember for his essays it's enough to make you go crazy."

"So what you're saying is have fun, but not too much fun?"

"Exactly," she smiled.

Mari asked how the Flying lessons were. "That's probably the only thing I'm really nervous about this term. Everything else is based out of a book, this is just based on natural skill. If you're good, you're good. If you're bad, you'll fall off your broom in front of the whole class."

"You have nothing to worry about, Mari. Look at your brother. He's a natural. Being his sister, you should probably pick up some of his skill. Your brother was the best flyer in our class. As soon as he got on the broom, you could tell that he was brilliant."

"Yeah, you'll be fine. Mari on the other hand is in for a challenge if she's anything like her sister over here," she laughed.

"Cheyenne! You're worse than Helen when it comes to bringing me down."

"Hey, she needs to be warned." She looked back to me. "One of the first things Madam Hooch has you do first is to stand over your broom with your hand stretched out and say "Up." The broom is _supposed _to fly right up into your hand. When Ann stood over her broom and called her broom up, the thing didn't even move."

Ann poked Cheyenne hard on her side. "I told you not to repeat that story! Besides, what's the big deal, Flying isn't even an important class. You take it your first year and that's it. It's not crucial to our future like Transfiguration."

"True, but it's the only thing that I can say I'm better than you at. Let me have my moment."

Ann and Cheyenne had their friendly argument for the rest of dinner. Mari and I were listening on, laughing the whole time. We all went upstairs to our common room after dinner, exhausted after a long day, especially them since they didn't have the free period like we did. Mari and I left them to answer the eagle's riddle when we got to the top of the tower. Watching them answer the question with ease made us feel embarrassed that we took a whole five minutes to answer.

"How did you answer it so fast? We stood there for five minutes trying to figure out the answer!"

"Experience. We've been here for a whole year after all. Besides, you'll learn that you don't always have to have the right answer. The knocker is perfectly open to other answers if they are well reasoned. It's not about being right, it's about being able to defend your answer."

"Can't you see why your sister was sorted into Ravenclaw?" Cheyenne said.

"Oh yeah, the Sorting Hat knew exactly where to place this know-it-all, didn't he?" I teased.

"It was nice spending time with you two, but Cheyenne and I already have tons of homework to get started on so we're going to find a table to get started. Enjoy being a first year while you can!" The two of them grabbed a table close to the windows and starting pulling out stacks of parchment paper.

"I would hate to disobey an order," Mari said. "Let's enjoy being homework free!"

We walked back to our dormitory to unwind after a long day; the other girls were still missing, probably in the library or still in the Great Hall.

"Since it's just us, I'm going to take a proper shower since I rushed it this morning. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Sure thing! I'm going to write home to my mum and dad. I promised them that I would write after my first day of lessons."

I got my pajamas out of my trunk and made my way to the bathroom. The tiles were surprisingly warm and I was able to walk to the corner shower barefoot. I turned on the water and waited for it to turn warm. When it got hot enough, I jumped in and just stood there, letting the water relax my muscles. I didn't realize how tiring it was to carry a book bag around with me all day could be. My shoulders were incredibly sore so I start massaging them. After the water had loosened me up, I proceeded to take my shower as I normally would. It was nice having this time to myself, time for me to gather my thoughts and think about the day's events. I didn't dwell too much on what happened during class, but more if what happened when I was with my friends. What was really perplexing about today was Mari's confession about her feelings towards Logan. I didn't think about it at the time, but thinking about it now, it didn't make much sense that she had fallen for him in only one day. After all, we had just met him last night. Was it even possible for someone to develop feelings for another person, literally, overnight? I had forgotten to ask Antheia about Mari's situation like I had promised. And it wasn't till then that I realized I forgot to tell Mari about the way Antony was looking at her when we were at the lake. I decided to keep the Antony situation to myself for a little bit, at least until I gathered more evidence. For all I know, he wasn't actually starring at her, but maybe something behind her. While I wasn't entirely convinced that was the case, I didn't want to assume anything about the boy. First, we would figure out the problem with Logan.

I finished my shower, dried off and got dressed. When I went back to the dormitory, Cho and the others were still missing. Mari was on her bed reading a book, her letter all sealed and ready for an owl to deliver in the morning.

"They didn't come back yet?" I asked pointing to the beds across the way.

"Oh no, they did. They dropped their things off and went back to relax in the common room."

"Oh, okay. So we're alone then?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, remember what you told me before Defense Against the Dark Arts? The little secret you shared?"

Her cheeks turned red as she remembered. "Oh yeah. What about it?"

"Well, didn't you want to ask Antheia what she thought? She's just down in the common room. I'm sure she wouldn't mind helping you out."

"Oh, I don't know Helen. I'm not even positively sure that I like him. How about…how about we just give it a little bit of time first before I react? I just want to be one hundred percent sure of how I feel about him before I bring in outside help."

"Completely understandable." I settled into my bed and sat down with my head facing up towards the canopy on top. "So what are you reading?"

She chuckled. "Tales of Beedle the Bard. My mum thought it would be a nice reminder of home. Oh! Speaking of home, what was that package you got from home today? The one you were too embarrassed to show me?"

"You're right! I completely forgot about Larry." I leaned over to reach for my school bag where I had stuffed the box he was in at the bottom. "Mari, meet Larry!"

"Isn't he just adorable! I wish my parents thought to ship over one of my old toys."

"That's where you're wrong. Larry was more than just a toy, he was family. He even sat at the table with us at dinner. Mum always got upset because I would try to feed him and I would get food all over his face or his ears and she had to wash him constantly."

"That's too cute. I used to do the same with my little teddy bear, Scrumples. My mum would get upset too," she yawned. "You know, I think I'm going to head off to bed. I have to get up early to send my letter back home."

"You know what, I'll send it for you. I want to send my parents a letter too, so I'm going to wake up early and write one at the Owlery or someplace around here."

"Aw, thanks. I'll let you sleep in on the weekend, I promise. If Cho and the others come in, tell them I said goodnight, will you?"

"Yeah, sure thing."

"Thanks. Goodnight Lenny!"

"Night Mari!"

She turned on her side and closed the curtains around her bed. Within a few minutes, I could hear her silent snores. I lay on my bed, not quite ready to go to bed, but not willing to strike up a conversation with my dorm mates. I decided to try to go to sleep instead, especially if I was going to wake up early for a little walk around the castle. I pulled the curtains around my bed, leaving me in darkness. I closed my eyes and eventually drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ignore what I said about me being suddenly inspired to write Chapter 7. I got a few paragraphs done and got distracted. Maybe tonight I'll write some more, but I'm trying to finish a really great story at the moment, so I doubt I'll have something brand spanking new for awhile. Definitely not this year. Lucky for you I have two more chapters stored away. And I haven't had a disclaimer for awhile so everything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

When I woke up, I knew that it was still very early. I opened the curtains to see that it was still relatively dark outside. I sat on the bench under the window for a little bit, marveling at the idea that this was going to be my view for a long time. That's where I stayed for a few minutes until someone moving in their bed startled me. I quickly got dressed, thankful that I didn't have to take a shower since I took one the night before. I grabbed what I needed for lessons that day so I could go straight to the Great Hall for breakfast. Before I left, I left a note for Mari telling her not to wait up for me, that I'd be going straight to breakfast and I'd meet her there. As I quietly walked out the door, I remembered that I was going to deliver Mari's letter to her parents. I backtracked back to her side table, got her letter and made my way out of our tower. I paused to appreciate the empty common room. The first time I saw it, I was still in shock of being at Hogwarts. Yesterday morning, I barely saw the room in my rush to make it to breakfast on time. Last night my only concern was making it to my dorm to unwind. Now, I could really see the common room with clear eyes. There were enough tables and seats for every person in our House spread throughout the large room. On either side of the bust of Rowena Ravenclaw, our House founder, was a fireplace and a cozy chair setting around it. I couldn't wait for winter to arrive so I could warm up in front of it. I took a moment to look at all the books on the hundreds of shelves. The topics ranged from basic Transfiguration guides to books on how to raise dragons. I didn't know when any of some of these books would be useful, but was amused that we had them. This had to be the biggest collection of books in the castle next to the library. Remembering my task, I hurried out of the tower and made my way to the Owlery. It was a quiet walk through the castle. The smell of breakfast cooking was already making its way through the corridors. I encountered no one on my walk, so I was more than surprised when I saw that I wasn't alone in the Owlery.

"Rod, is that you?"

"Oh!" he cried, clearly surprised at my presence. "What are you doing up here?"

"Probably the same as you."

"Well, yeah, I figured that much. But why are you here so early? I thought girls liked their beauty sleep or something," he joked.

"If that's the case, I should start going to sleep early and start sleeping in," I laughed.

"Whatever. You may have a squirrel laugh, but your other looks are pretty alright."

"Thanks?"

"Ha, you're welcome. Anyways, what are you here for?"

"I'm doing a favor for Mari and sending out a letter for her to her parents. And then, I'm writing a letter to my family before breakfast. Hey, where are the school owls at?"

"Up there." He pointed to the left side of the tower where a large number of owls were waiting. I motioned for one of them to come down. A large gray owl flew down to my side. I gave him the letter and he flew off.

"I'll leave you to write your letter in private," Rod began to say.

"Oh! You don't have to leave. Your company is kind of nice."

"Thanks for that, but I promised Logan I would meet up with him in the entrance way before breakfast. The only time I get to see him really is at lunch."

"In that case, okay. It was nice seeing you though. See you at lunch again?"

"You sure that kid Eddie won't mind?" he smirked.

I threw a spare piece of parchment at him. "Please don't mention that kid in front of me! At least this early in the day."

"I'm sorry. But yeah, I'll see you guys at lunch. And I'll tell the guys they don't have to bring so much food this time. Bye!" He waved and disappeared through the door. I waited until I couldn't hear his steps on the stairs anymore, then I turned back to the letter I was to write. I didn't exactly know what to put in the letter, so I decided to give them a brief update of what had been going on so far.

Dear Mum and Dad,

Not much has been going on here. I got sorted into Ravenclaw, just like you both said! Ann has been a great help so far. She's told me all about the classes that I'm taking and is always there if I have a question. I've made a lot of great friends already. One of them, Mari, is in Ravenclaw with me. She's actually the little sister of one of Ann's friends. I've also made friends with these two boys, Logan and Roderick (but we call him Rod for short) that are in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. They've introduced us to their friends from their House so we have a nice little lunch party tradition starting. So far, my classes are easy. We don't really start working with our wands until we've gotten the basics down. The class I'm really scared of is Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall seems really strict. I'm excited about Flying lessons later today. Anyways, wish me luck for the rest of my classes! I'll see you guys at Christmas. Love you both!

Love, Lenny

I read over my letter before I sealed it up, making sure I didn't put anything in there on accident that I didn't want them to know about. When it was the way I wanted, I called out for Argo. He flew down from the rafters and landed right beside me.

"Hi Argo. I haven't seen you in two days. I've got a mission for you. This goes to mum and dad," I said as I placed the letter in his open beak. With a hoot, he flew out the open window. I could hear some chattering going on at the bottom of the stairs. I retrieved my school bag from the floor and made my way to the Great Hall. I walked right into a wave of students, all heading for the same place as me. Holding onto my things tightly, I shuffled right along with everyone else. A hard push from behind startled me. I didn't have to turn around to see who it was. Odessa walked around me, turning her head to look me in the eyes. Those cold eyes of hers pierced mine. She didn't even try to hide from me that it was her who had pushed me. Odessa turned back to her friends and left me standing there in shock. How was I supposed to react to that? I was sure that this was part of her plan to get back at Logan. If she targeted his friends, then he would try to get back at her. If he did though, she could say with complete honesty that she did nothing to him if any of the staff got involved. I decided that I would keep this incident from Logan and the others and kept walking to the Great Hall. I could smell whatever was cooking even stronger than I had earlier. I ran to the room, eager take a seat and dig in. None of the girls from my year were there yet, but I saw Cheyenne sitting with a few of her friends and sat across from her.

"Morning Cheyenne! Where's my sister at?"

She looked to the empty seat next to her. "She decided to put a little more effort in her appearance this morning. She said she'll be down in a few minutes. I would have waited for her but I'm starving this morning!" The two girls next to her laughed.

"Oh, sorry for not introducing you guys to each other. Phoebe and Iris, this is Antheia's little sister Helen. Helen, these are the McKinnon twins. They're in our year." Two identical faces smiled back at me.

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you tell each other apart?"

"No worries, we get asked that a lot," said one of them. "I'm Phoebe. The easiest way to tell us apart is by our height. I've got about 2 inches on Iris."

"But when we're sitting down, we're about the same height because all of her height comes from her legs. So if we're not standing, the best way to tell us apart are our eyes, or our eyebrows. I have a scar above my left eyebrow from falling on a rock while playing tag when we were younger."

Other than the eyebrow, there was no way that I could see that set them apart. They both had the shoulder length dark brown hair, the same heart shaped face, the slightly crooked nose. They'd be perfect for movies, they could play each other's body doubles. I was about to mention this when I felt a poke on my side that made me squeal.

"Ha, got you!" Mari's voice spoke from behind me. "Hey, thanks for sending off my letter. I really needed the extra sleep this morning. I want to be well rested before we go to Potions."

"I'm just glad we have it first thing. I would hate to have that looming ahead of me all day."

"No kidding. That's the perfect way to end the day, isn't it?" she replied sarcastically. Right as she got settled, the food appeared from the trays. Hands shot out from both sides to the center of the table, all eager to get the first slice of toast or the hottest cinnamon roll. I reached for the tongs to grab some sausage and grabbed a few slices of toast. I slathered them all with butter and strawberry jam.

"This breakfast reminds me so much of home. I had this almost every morning."

"All that's missing is the morning cartoons, right Lenny?" I heard Ann say behind me. She hugged me from behind and walked around the table to take her seat next to Cheyenne.

"Ann, you look gorgeous today!" exclaimed Phoebe. She wasn't lying; the time my sister put into her look this morning was worth it. She had curled her hair and pulled it back into a half do. Her makeup was carefully applied and her lips were perfectly glossed. She looked like she was ready for a dance.

"Ann, you know we're only at school right?"

"I know. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look your best Len. I just felt like putting forth my best me."

"Either that or she's trying to impress my brother. If it's the latter, it's working big time." I stole a glance to Mari's right and saw that Roger was trying his very hardest to avoid being caught looking at Ann. He was failing.

"I think we found her reason."

"So first years, you have Potions first thing if I remember correctly, right?"

"Correct as always."

"Make sure you get there a little early. Professor Snape hates students that walk in late and interrupt his talking. That's the fastest way to get points docked for our House. If you are late, you better have a good excuse too. Getting lost doesn't work, we tried that one last year," Cheyenne spoke.

"Even though we did get lost!"

"When we say excuse, we mean you have a professor's note saying why you were late. And even then he'll give you The Look."

"What's the look?" asked Mari curiously.

"I'm sure you'll get a glimpse of The Look sometime today. You don't ever want to be on the receiving end of it. He saves that one for the students that are late, fail to follow instructions, or don't turn in assignments on time. And sometimes if he's in a particularly foul mood, he'll just give The Look to everyone that walks into his room that's not a Slytherin."

"It's bad, we'll just tell you that much."

Suddenly nervous at my next class, I nudged Mari in her ribs. She was in deep conversation with her brother about something their mum had sent them, but she turned to me. "Hey, I've been hearing some bad things about Professor Snape and late students. Do you want to leave a little bit earlier than planned to make sure we have plenty of wiggle room?"

"Yeah, okay. Just let me finish this plate and we'll go."

"Alright." I turned back to Ann and her friends, the McKinnon's in particular. "McKinnon, I've heard that name somewhere. Do your parents work at the Ministry?"

"Yeah, our dad does. In fact, I think he's worked with your dad on more than one occasion."

"That must be it! I've probably overheard my dad share a story about your dad or something. What does your mum do?"

"Honestly Helen, no need to get nosy about everyone's personal life!" scolded Ann.

"It's not a problem Antheia. Our mum stays at home. She's one of those "social butterflies." She has all these so-called important lunches to attend to, it's hilarious. She's all about keeping up appearances, mum is."

"We have this theory," Iris spoke up, "that she flits around from event to event to show everyone that we're okay after what happened with our aunt."

I could feel a little bit of tension, but I continued on anyway. "What happened with your aunt?"

The twins leaned in and motioned for me to do the same. They dropped their voices.

"Back when we were younger, a bit before we were born, our aunt and uncle were murdered by You-Know-Who." I felt a chill go up my spine. I hadn't heard that name mentioned in a long time. "Mum doesn't talk about it, but we think she acts the way she does to show everyone that we've recovered from the incident, that everything is alright with the McKinnon family."

"I'm…I'm so sorry."

"Thanks. We've gotten past it. Everyone knows, it's not like we can hide from the past, you know? We've put it behind us and don't let it define who we are. Clearly, our mum hasn't."

"Helen!" called out Ann. "Isn't it time for you to go to Potions now?" I could see the look in her face, the one that said "We'll talk about this later." She looked exactly like mum when she did that.

"Yeah, you're right. I should go. Mari, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Bye Roger."

"Bye," he waved.

"Good luck!" the girls chorused from the table as we walked to the exit. I turned and waved goodbye.

"What was the deal with your sister back there?" Mari asked. "I didn't catch what was said, but the look on her face said that something was bothering her, something about you."

"Nothing really. I was just talking to her friends and I guess I came across as the nosy little sister. She'll get over it. We have bigger issues on our hand right now anyways," I said, pointing to our left where our Potions class was. We turned down the corridor and made our way downstairs to the dungeons.

****

The corridor that led to our Potions class was dark and damp. Our feet echoed in the enclosed space, our shadows cast upon the wall by the flickering lamps that led the way. We knew that we had gotten to our destination when we saw three figures shaking in the cold standing by the door.

"Cho, is that you? Marietta, Lanika? Did you come straight here and skip breakfast?"

"No," spoke Cho. "We dashed into the Great Hall real quick to grab something quick to eat. We slept in and didn't want to be late to class, so we didn't sit down."

"Yeah," said Lanika. "I'll take an almost empty stomach if it means I'm not late to Potions. I've heard the rumors about Professor Snape."

We heard more voices down the hallway and saw the rest of our class, just the boys from our House since it wasn't a double lesson, come down the stairs in a big group. Eddie made a beeline to stand next to me. I ignored him and turned to Mari for a distraction but the door swung open loudly, causing all of us to jump. Professor Snape's stood standing behind us, his mouth turned slightly upward in what I assumed to be a smirk at our fright.

"Get inside," was all he said. We scurried in, rushing to take our seats as quietly as we could; nobody wanted to draw attention to themselves here. Everyone took out their book and I took out a piece of parchment and a quill as well, at Ann's suggestion. "Last year, he started the class with a pop quiz, of sorts. He just called on a student and asked them something from the textbook. It might be a good idea to take notes, look attentive."

"When I call your name, raise your hand." His entire demeanor frightened me, but what scared me the most was his voice. He spoke in a low, cold voice. He barely whispered, yet everyone heard what he was saying; whether they were silent out of respect or fear I didn't know. He got through roll quickly and turned his attention to the class sitting before him with a look of what I could only describe as contempt.

"You are to learn the act of potion-making. There is no wand-waving in my class, so you can put those away now." He paused as we all put our wands back into our bags. "Many of you may not consider this to be magic. Many of you will not appreciate the beauty of a simmering cauldron as it requires no wand work. Many of you will have a difficult time following the simple directions in your books. This is none of my concern." Silence continued to fill the room as he finished his little speech. He looked around, almost as if challenging us to speak up against his words. "Open your books to page three and begin the potion on the left, an incredibly simple potion to cure pimples. Work with a partner. You'll find the supplies needed in the cupboard in the front of the room."

I gave a sigh of relief as I realized that he wasn't going to quiz us on the book. "You're my partner," Mari said as she linked her arm with mine. "Of course you are. Who else would I choose?"

"I didn't say it for your sake," she whispered. "I'm saying it for someone else." She discreetly nodded her head in the direction of Eddie. "That Boy was eying you, so I grabbed your arm and called dibs so he knows he's not partnering with you."

"Very smart. How about you get the supplies and I'll get my cauldron set up?"

She nodded and walked off towards the supply cupboard with Cho, who was working with Marietta at the table next to us. I stole a quick glance at Eddie on the other side of their workstation, who was sullenly setting up his cauldron as his partner, Lanika, got the supplies. I was thankful Mari was so watchful of him. I would hate to be working with him for the whole period, even if he didn't like me. His attitude towards the other House's was horrible. Mari made her way back with an armful of supplies and set them down at our workstation.

"Some of this stuff is disgusting. Next class, you get the supplies."

We bent our heads and began cutting, squishing, and draining the ingredients needed for our Pimple Potion. About halfway through the period, Professor Snape scared us all by standing up and walking around. He made his way through the aisles, criticizing everyone's work as he went along.

"Your potion is much too thick. Clearly you forgot to add the roots after you brought the ingredients to a boil," he said to Eddie and Lanika. As much as I disliked him, I felt sorry for Lanika, whose face was turning red with embarrassment. He swept his black cape around and stopped at Cho and Marietta's cauldron. "Tut tut. The potion should have turned a dark shade of purple by now," he pointed out as he stared at their mustard yellow concoction. I froze with horror as he made a stop at mine and Mari's station. He stared for a moment, then whipped his cape around and moved to Emmerson and Alex's potion.

"He didn't say anything," Mari muttered quietly. "Does that mean we did everything right?"

Too shocked to say anything, I nodded my head yes. Cho and Marietta shot envious looks at us.

"Let's just get back to work and keep doing what we're doing," I whispered back. We bent our heads again and continued making our potions. At the end of the period, our potion had turned into a thick, mossy green liquid, just like the book said it should have come out. I looked over at the tables around us and saw that we were the only team that had a potion like that: Cho's had turned a bright yellow, Eddie's was gray, and Alex had a brown liquid that looked like mud.

"Pour some of your potion into a labeled vial and drop it off on my desk before you leave." Mari took a vial from the shelf behind us, labeled it, and did what we were told. "Come on," she said as she tugged on my robe. "Let's drop this off and get out of here."

We dropped it off without making any eye contact with Professor Snape. We didn't speak again until we had gotten to the main level of the castle, when Cho and the others caught up with us. "How did that even work out? He didn't even say one thing about your potion, not one!" Lanika cried, her voice ringing with jealousy.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "I just followed what was in the book."

"What about you Mari?"

"I just did what Helen told me to do. She was the mastermind of the potion."

"That's it, next class, we're switching partners. That Carmichael boy is a dud when it comes to Potions. He wasn't even following the instructions properly and whenever I tried to correct him, he would hush me up. Rude!"

"I don't think so," replied Mari. She wrapped her arms around me protectively. "She is my special Potions partner," she gloated. The others walked ahead of us to where we were to meet Madam Hooch for Flying. Mari turned to me again.

"Seriously though Helen, I think you might have a gift for Potions. The way you directed me was crazy. I was clueless the whole time, but you seemed to really _get_ it."

" I really don't get it myself. I was just reading what the book said aloud."

"Yeah, but the others were doing the same as us, for the most part, and there's didn't come close to ours. Just face it, you have a gift. Accept it, love it."

"You know, if what you say is true, then I am officially better than Ann at something."

"Are you going to rub it in to her later?" she asked with a sneaky smile.

"I think I am." We ran to catch up with the girls and walked together to our next lesson.

We recognized the spot for our lesson immediately as there were ten brooms lying still on the grass. We waited in a circle, not knowing what to do. The boys eventually caught up with us and did the same. Five minutes later, we spotted a witch walking briskly towards us. She had short hair and bright yellow eyes. Despite her fierce appearance, she seemed to be pleasant enough, though anyone would seem like a butterfly after leaving Snape's dungeon.

"Welcome to your first Flying lesson. Set down your bags where you are. Everyone, pick a broom and stand on its left side. We hurried to pick a broom, girls on the left, boys on the right. "Now, stick out your right hand and say 'Up.'" My broom hovered for a moment and dropped quickly to the grass. I wasn't surprised when Mari's broom jumped right into her hand. A pleased smile came upon her face. I looked to see if anyone else had the same broom issues as I was having. Marietta and Lanika were frustrated at their brooms—they hadn't moved at all. Cho was happily holding the broom in her hand. Clearly, she had some hidden talent with a broomstick. On the boys side, Christian and Alex were holding their brooms. The others were having trouble, particularly Eddie. This brought a smile to my face and I went back to concentrating on my own broom. Madam Hooch waited patiently.

"Up!" I commanded. Once again, the broom hovered about a foot off the ground and dropped again.

"Try using a more commanding tone," Mari said trying to help me.

"Up!" I tried again. "Up! Up! UP!" I finally yelled. The broom flew right into my hands, almost hitting me in the face with its speed.

"See? We're a perfect match. You're the Potions genius, I'm the flying expert," Mari laughed.

"Alright, _expert, _let's see how well you can actually fly that broom when the time comes."

"Now that you have all got your brooms in your hands, mount it, with both feet planted firmly on the ground. Now, on my whistle, I want you to kick off the ground with both feet. You will hover above the ground for a few seconds, then lean forward to lower yourself back to the ground. Grab hold of your broom. One…two…" She blew the whistle. I kicked off the ground like she directed and was floating. The broom was shaking slightly, but not so hard that I would be thrown off. I had never been on a broomstick before—the feeling of having my feet off the floor was amazing! I looked over to see Mari hovering as I was, her broom perfectly balanced and looking at me with a wide grin.

"Do you have something to say to me Helen?"

"Fine," I said with an eye roll. "I now deem you, Mari Davies, a certified flying expert."

"Thank you," she said with a satisfied smile. Madam Hooch blew the whistle again and we all leaned forward. I landed in a somewhat graceful manner and looked to see who had trouble in my class. Eddie had managed to get on his broom and get it to fly for a bit, but he was having trouble getting back down. Cho seemed to be as comfortable on the broom as Mari was. The rest of my class seemed to be at the same level as me—able to get the broom to fly and land without much trouble, but still shaky.

"Not bad, not bad at all for a first time with real training. Now, we're going to try this again, accept this time I'm going to come around and correct anything I see wrong. Same rules, I whistle, you kick, hover, I whistle again and you land. One…two…" And she whistled again. I kicked off again, but this time, I tried to copy what Mari was doing. She held her body perfectly still, leaning slightly forward to keep her balance. As I followed what she was doing, Madam Hooch started making her rounds.

"Lanika, you're leaning way too far back. You're going to fall off. Lean forward a bit, but not so much where you're going to land or take off. A little more…there. Now hold it. See? Marietta, your grip is all wrong. Let me see your hands. Okay, move this finger over this one and hold tight. Much better, you see?" I changed the grip of my hands to match Marietta's. "Now you're quite the opposite of your friend here. Lean back. More, more, stop. Hold that. Cho, not much wrong that I can see off the bat. Fix your grip a bit and you'll be fine. Good posture, very good. Marisella, much like Cho, fix your grip and you'll be fine. It seems as though your brother's talent may have passed onto you," she said with a small smile. "Helen, forward a bit more. I see you've seen what the proper grip is supposed to look like. Very good." Mari gave me an encouraging smile. Madam Hooch corrected the boys and then stood back to see her class.

"Very good, all of you. The position you are in now is the standard sitting position. When you're playing Quidditch, this is how you will see many of the Seekers and sometimes the Keepers sitting. Can anyone tell me why this position is favorable to a Keeper during a Quidditch match?" She looked around and called on Cho, who had raised her hand.

"When the quaffle is coming at the Keeper, he'll be able to move in either direction quickly to make a save."

"Exactly, five points to Ravenclaw." She blew her whistle again, our cue to land on the ground. "I think this is enough for our first lesson. Next time, we'll practice flying, rather than hovering above the ground. You're dismissed."

"I think this might be my favorite lesson so far," said Mari.

"Does it have anything to do with you being a natural at it?"

She chuckled. "Maybe. But really, anything that doesn't have me memorizing spells or mixing ingredients is fine by me."

"I see what you mean. I think you're right, this class seems really fun. And with the Flying Expert as my best friend, how can I go wrong?"

We walked up to the Great Hall with the rest of our class for lunch. I was surprised that Eddie didn't come up to me to try and steal me away. I found him in the back of our group sulking with his mates.

"He's probably embarrassed that he did so bad. To be honest, I'd be embarrassed too. I haven't seen flying that bad since I went to a Chudley Cannons match last year," piped up Cho, who had joined in on our conversation. She must have seen you looking for him, I thought.

"Wow Cho, that's pretty harsh."

"Did you see him? Plus, this proves that he's a total fake. I overheard him talking to his mates as we left the common room this morning that he practiced flying all the time at home. I think this lesson proves that he's never been on a broom in his entire life."

"What about you Cho," I asked. "You seemed right comfortable during lessons."

"Unlike Eddie, I actually _have _practiced flying before. I got really into it after my dad took me to my first Quidditch match when I was six. He got me a broom the next day and I've been practicing ever since."

"Really?" chirped Mari. They finally had something in common, other than being in the same House. "Which team do you support?"

"I'm a fan of the Tutshill Tornadoes. Have been since that first match. What about you?"

"Well, I'm not a big follower of Quidditch except during the World Cup, but my family usually supports Puddlemere United."

"Not bad. Helen, which team do you support?" Cho asked.

"Oh, I don't know any teams except Puddlemere. I'm not in the wizarding world enough to know many teams."

"But I thought you had magical parents?"

"Well, I do, but I was raised in a mostly Muggle home. Whenever my grandparents came to visit, we tried to make them as comfortable as we could and we kind of just went with it."

"So you haven't been around magic at all, even though you've have a witch and wizard for parents?"

"Not exactly. They do some magic, but they don't depend on it. And they've told me all about Hogwarts and things. And I've been to the Ministry and Diagon Alley a few times too. So I know things, just not a lot."

"Oh, that's pretty neat. Are you guys going to sit with us at lunch?" motioning to Lanika and Marietta who were walking behind us, wrapped up in their own conversation.

"Sorry, we have plans down at the lake again."

"No worries. See you in History of Magic. Don't forget, it's with the Slytherin's," she said with annoyance on her face. Clearly, distaste in the Slytherin House wasn't uncommon. Mari and I grabbed some food for us and we made our way to the lake like we had the day before. The group had already gathered there and were waiting for us.

"Hello again Helen," said Rod.

"Same to you." Mari looked curiously at me.

"What is he talking about?" she mouthed.

"After lunch," I replied back. She shrugged and turned her attention back on the group. I remembered that I was going to keep an eye on Antony for awhile to see if my suspicions were right, that he did like Mari. I kept in the conversation, but every few minutes I would slide my eyes over to him to see where he looking. The first time I looked, he was laughing at something Cormac had just said. It was the second time that I caught him staring. It wasn't so much the fact that he was staring that tipped me off, it was the way he stared at her. He tried to make it look like he was staring just past her, but if you looked carefully as I was, you could see him catching glances at her whenever she would laugh or talk. I was almost positive now that he was having feelings for my friend. I decided that I would tell her tonight at dinner, someplace noisy where it would be unlikely for someone to overhear us. I also remembered what she had said the last night about Logan. I looked to her to see if she was showing any interest in him. The way she ignored making eye contact with him, even when he was speaking directly at her, told me that she was trying to suppress her feelings.

"Hey Helen, are you ready to go?" Logan asked, sticking his hand out to pull me up. Everyone was waiting for me to get up. I took his hand as I felt my face turn red.

"You were in some sort of a daze. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing, just our next class. History of Magic with Slytherin."

"Oh, that's bad. The class alone is bad, we had that yesterday," spoke Cormac. "But to be stuck in that room with a bunch of Slytherin's? That's just torture. Well, best of luck!" He patted my shoulder.

"Thanks, we'll need it." We said our goodbyes at the entrance to the castle and split off to our separate ways. I was not looking forward to the next two hours.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: First off, Merry Christmas Eve world! Or Merry December 24 for those that may not celebrate it! So I still haven't finished Chapter 7 yet. I've been busy with baking and such so hopefully I'll get right on that after the holidays. All things Harry Potter belong to the fantastical J.K. Rowling. Except Oliver Wood. He belongs to me. ****(I'm kidding, he really does belong to Rowling, though I wish he was mine)**

As we walked into Professor Binns class, we noticed that most of the Slytherin's were not there. We took this as a chance to get the best seats in the class, right in the front. We filled up the first two rows, and half of the third, as there were 4 seats per row and ten of us. Mari and I sat in the front row, right in front of the desk. We didn't know if Odessa would try something during class and we didn't want to risk sitting near her. Five minutes later, the Slytherins walked in, heads held high. They made no notice of us and sat in their seats. I saw Odessa walk in flanked on either side by friends, if you could call them that. By the looks of it, they were only with her for protection. Odessa came from a powerful pureblood family and garnered a lot of respect in her own House, I had learned from Cormac at lunch. If you were friends with her, you were in. I watched as she took a seat in the very last row. We talked amongst ourselves as we waited for Professor Binns.

"Talk about segregation," she said as she glanced back at the middle row. Two of our House on one side, two Slytherin's on the other, neither side making an attempt to mingle.

"It's probably for the best. I'd prefer if we kept contact with them to a minimum."

Professor Binns floated in through blackboard in the front of the room. "Good afternoon class. I'll do roll call and then we'll begin taking notes." He went through the list, pausing slightly on Odessa's name. As promised, as soon as he stopped reading the list, he pulled out a thick stack of parchment and began to lecture off his notes. The next hour was spent taking notes with no interruption from Odessa. We thought that we were off the hook for today, but were surprised when we were both shoved aside as we walked out the door, not by Odessa, but from two of her friends.

"Filthy half-bloods," they muttered. Odessa said nothing, but I saw her mouth curl up into a smile. They disappeared down the corridor as they made their way to their next class.

"Rod was right then, wasn't he?" Mari spoke. "She's having her little minions do all the dirty work for her so she won't get caught."

"She's certainly playing into the Slytherin stereotype, that's for sure. I mean, cunning? She's got that down pat."

"Whatever, if we ignore them, maybe they'll see that all of their actions are pointless."

"Right. Come on, let's go to Charms! I'm excited about having Professor Flitwick teach us, finally!" We raced down the corridor and up the stairs to the second floor where our next class was. We were the first ones to get there. Slowly our Housemates began to gather. Eddie, having recovered from his embarrassment in Flying, approached Mari and me.

"That History of Magic class sure was boring, huh? Hard to believe we have to suffer through that for the rest of the term." We didn't want to lead him on, so we just smiled politely. He didn't get what we were getting at and kept on talking. "And what about those Slytherins, am I right? They think they're so much better than us." He kept talking about our classes and people in our year from our House and the others.

"Is he really this thick?" Mari mouthed. I shook my head in disbelief. How could someone be so oblivious to what other people thought of him? His ego must be bigger than the castle. Thankfully, we were saved by Professor Flitwick. He opened the door and let us all into the classroom. It was a large class, with the desks pushed closer to the front of the room and a large space in the back, probably meant for practice. Being the first ones to arrive at the lesson, Mari and I got to pick our seats first. We moved quickly to the first row and moved me into the corner seat. Eddie's face fell as he saw he couldn't sit next to him, but quickly recovered. He sat in the next best place, directly behind me.

"Hey Helen! Now I can pass you notes whenever class gets boring!"

"Well I talked to my sister about this class and she said that class never gets boring so I don't think there's much of a chance we'll be talking in this class ever," I spat out quickly. I turned quickly around and immediately started talking to Mari.

"Good job. Don't give him false hope that he has a chance with you. Crush his dreams the first chance you get. I know that's not really you, but it's for your own good."

"Thanks for that. I was starting to feel bad about cutting him off like that."

Professor Flitwick had finished getting all of us students in his room and made his way to his front desk. He was so small, he had to stand on a stack of books to see his class. He had a genial smile on his face and made everyone feel comfortable in his room.

"Welcome first years to your first Charms lesson! I am Professor Flitwick, but I'm sure you all know that, being in my House and all. I'm going to begin with the roll call and then we'll proceed with the class expectations and start taking some notes." He called out our names quickly (since there were only ten of us) and passed out to each of us a piece of parchment, using his wand of course.

"In front of you is a list of spells we will be learning this term. Some of the spells at the end we may not get to if we run short on time, but the first ten will definitely be covered in depth. Any questions so far?" He paused, waiting for any hands to go up. When no one raised their hands, he went on. "Please keep this as a reference—this is excellent help when final exams come around and you need to review what you have learned. The first spell that you see is _Wingardium Leviosa_. This is the spell that is used to make things float in mid air. If you could please pull out a fresh piece of parchment, we will begin taking notes on the theory of this spell and if we have time at the end of the lesson, we will begin putting our knowledge to good use! The first thing to know about this spell is the hand movement involved, what we will call the Swish and Flick."

The lesson went by surprisingly fast considering it was the last one of the day. Antheia wasn't lying when she said that Charms was rarely boring. Despite the fact that we were taking notes the whole period, Professor Flitwick was excellent in sparking interest in his students. He was patient when some of us didn't grasp the proper enunciation of the spell and clearly demonstrated the movements behind the spell. He even made Cho rise from her seat to prove to us that such a simple spell could be incredibly powerful. Charms was beginning to feel like my favorite lesson. We spent a lot of time on our notes and weren't able to practice what we had learned.

"Not to worry class, first thing next lesson, we will begin practicing the _Wingardium Leviosa _spell! In the meantime, to keep things fresh in your minds, I'm assigning a small bit of homework. I would like just a half piece of parchment explaining the theory of the spell and a few examples on how it can be used in daily life, to be turned in next lesson. Have a good afternoon!"

Mari and I left with the other girls from our dorm back to the common room while the boys went outside. We were all enthused about Professor Flitwick's class.

"That was the first time I've actually been excited about a class," said Lanika. "Transfiguration was intimidating but this looks like it can be a lot of fun."

"I know!" replied Marietta. "And he seems like a really good professor. He does a really good job on making sure we're all on the same page."

When we got to the top of our tower, a few older students were already there. They answered the riddle and were kind enough to let us go through with them. I had heard that sometimes they closed the door and made the younger students answer the question for themselves.

Mari asked if we wanted to work together on the Charms assignment we had just been given. "That way we have the rest of the weekend for ourselves and we don't have to worry about getting it done last minute," she had said. We agreed and found ourselves a table large enough for the five of us. The assignment didn't take as long as we had thought, since it was rather short and we were working together. We finished in about fifteen minutes and had plenty of time to relax and unwind before dinner. We walked down to the Great Hall together, laughing and talking the whole way. I was pleased to see that we were starting to bond the longer that we were here. Cho seemed to be relieved that we were starting to connect more too—after all, she had been torn the first day when Marietta and Lanika weren't exactly speaking to Mari and me. We all sat next to each other during dinner as well. Halfway through, I remembered that we usually talked to Rod across the aisle. I looked over my shoulder to see if he was waiting for us to realize our mistake, but he was deep in conversation with two red headed boys from his own House. For a split second, I was scared that our small group, the Fantastic Four I called us in my head, would be broken by House loyalties. I shook the thought out of my head. My fears were silenced when Rod turned around, apparently realizing what I had moments ago, and gave a wave and a smile. I returned it and we both turned back around. That little wave gave the reassurance I needed that we would always be friends, no matter where we were.

****

Our first weekend at Hogwarts was a fun one. We spent our lunches with our usual group. It seemed that lunch by the lake was the start of a tradition. We talked about our classes and more about our lives. I learned that Cormac's uncle often worked with my dad at the Ministry.

However, most of the weekend was spent with my dorm mates. We spent that weekend getting to know each other and learning about each other's family. We spent most of the weekend outside, watching some of the older boys in our house play a pick-up game of Quidditch. Roger was obviously one of the players, so Mari did a good job of cheering him on. The game took a sour turn when two of the boys crashed head on to each other on their brooms. Luckily, they were flying somewhat slow and were close to the ground when they fell. To be on the safe side, they pulled out of the game and went back up to the common room. Short two players, Mari and Cho offered to fill in for them.

"I've never seen you on a broom before Mari. Are you even that good?" asked Roger.

"Madam Hooch said that I inherited some of your talent, big brother. She said that Cho was a natural too."

"Come on, you need two more players, right? Don't you want to keep playing?" piped up Cho. The boys looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

"Sure why not, it's not a real match anyway. Mari, you fill in for Dex on the other team. Cho, you play Ross's position. You can use the broom they were using too. They left them behind," he pointed to two brooms propped up against a small tree nearby. They hopped on and kicked off with the same ease as they had during lessons. I was quite nervous for my friend, seeing as I had never seen her actually take flight on the broom before. It turns out Mari _had_ been on a broom before and I had no reason to be concerned. She flew with the same skill as her brother.

"Mari, where did you learn to fly like that?"

"Whenever you would go over to your friend's house, I would practice on your broom. I'm almost as good as you!" she teased.

"We'll see about that. We're on different teams, remember? Everyone ready?" he called out. Everyone nodded their head and the game began. It was a very interesting game. Mari proved to be a good match against her brother. Her practicing had definitely paid off. Cho wasn't doing too bad herself. She was filling in a Chaser position and made quite a few goals. A few minutes into the game, Ann and her friends came down from the castle and sat down next to me. I introduced the girls from my dorm to my sister.

"So what brings you down here?" I asked.

"Yesterday morning is what brings me down here. I never got a chance to talk to you about the incident at breakfast last night." I remembered the "probing" questions I asked Phoebe and Iris at the table yesterday and rolled my eyes.

"Honestly Ann, I don't see what the big deal is. Your friends seemed very comfortable with me being there and asking the questions. The only one upset at the table was you."

"You just met them though Lenny. You can't go around asking people their family history the first five minutes you meet them!"

"Well I'm not going to apologize! They seemed more than happy to answer my questions. If they were upset by what I asked them, then I would, but they're not. Everyone else has moved on, why don't you?"

"Whatever Helen. I'm just going to watch the game."

I huffed and slid closer to Marietta. "Anything wrong, Helen?"

"Nothing really. Just sisterly issues."

"If you need to vent, just let it out."

I cocked my head and smiled at her. "Thanks. I'm fine for now, but I'll probably take you up on that later this term."

We turned back to the game in front of us and stayed there till sunset.

****

The following weeks passed in a flurry of assignments and magical mishaps. I was doing at least average in all of my classes, though the ones I excelled in were only a surprise to my biggest rival, my sister. The fact that I was better at her in Potions was something that Antheia was still having trouble coming to terms with. At first, she simply shrugged it off as beginner's luck, that as the term went on and our potions became more difficult to concoct, my skills would wane and I would be at the same level as her. When Halloween came around, I had some of the best scores in my year. Ann became distant for a week or so, but I was still in contact with her friends, whom I had forged a close bond with.

"Does she hate me?"

"Of course not!" Iris reassured me. "She's just not used to being upstaged by her little sister. You know better than us how much of a perfectionist she is. She's had a hard enough time dealing with her…average grades in that class. Seeing you go through it with ease just sets something off in her."

Cheyenne put her arm around my shoulders. "Just give her a little space. She'll realize how silly it is to be upset at you."

As I waited for Ann to come around, I poured all of my energy into my schoolwork and my friendships. Most of my classes came to me with the same ease as Potions did. Charms had officially become my favorite class, while Transfiguration was giving me a difficult time. It wasn't that the content was overly difficult, it just took me longer to understand. By far, the most boring class was History of Magic. Sitting next to Mari made things fun, even though we were sitting in the front row. Professor Binns was so into is notes that he never noticed that we spent most of the period passing notes to each other. Odessa left us alone when she saw that pushing us around didn't have her desired effect on Logan. We kept to our agreement that Logan would never know what she had done.

As for Mari, her best class was Flying, obviously. Madam Hooch constantly praised her and Cho for their excellent flying abilities. She often used them as examples for the rest of the class. After we had mastered floating and flying in circles, Madam Hooch would split us into partners and practice playing catch in mid air. Mari was also surprisingly skilled in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was able to see past Professor Quirrell's stutter and came out with the top grade in the class after our first exam.

I kept a constant line of communication with my parents, writing to them at least once a week. Argo was definitely turning out to be the best, and most useful, birthday present I had gotten. He frequently stayed at home for a day or two when delivering one of my letters, and always made sure I got one back. Their words of praise and encouragement kept me going and pushed me to do even better in my coursework.

The day after our first round of exams was the day of the Halloween feast. The professors had planned an easy lesson that day knowing that most of the students were pent up with excitement for the Halloween feast later that evening. Professor McGonagall hadn't planned any new curriculum that day and left us to practice on what we had been working on up to that point. She was offering help to the students that needed it as well. Mari and I were maintaining good grades in the class so we kept to ourselves.

"So just how excited are you for the feast tonight?"

"So excited! Phoebe and Iris said that they have bats flying overhead and that the pumpkins they have are as large as a big dog. Did Roger say anything about it?"

Roger and Mari were spending a lot more time together since he discovered she was worthy to play on his team for the Quidditch games they often played. "Not really. He said that they go all out with the food though. That's something to look forward to. And don't look now, but That Boy is trying to get your attention."

Things with Eddie were the only things that had gotten worse as time went on at Hogwarts. He had become more persistent in trying to catch my attention. He had called in his lunch date with me two weeks before, which was one of the worst things I had ever had to experience. He reluctantly let Mari tag along so I didn't have to sit through his excruciating lecture on why Ravenclaw was the best House at school. When I pointed out that some of my best friends were in Gryffindor, he shrugged it off. "You'll come around. They probably seem nice now, but their true colors will come out eventually."

"What are you talking about? When have you ever heard of a Gryffindor suddenly turn around and act like a git?"

"Never, but you'll soon see that Ravenclaw's are better company to keep. You're too smart to be hanging around with that sort." After he said that, we abruptly left without a reason. Eddie didn't understand what had made us leave, and he had recently put his effort into trying to get me to hang out with him and his mates again. I made it very clear that I was ignoring him, but he was so mental, he couldn't even figure that out. I was more than happy when Professor McGonagall dismissed us for lunch. Mari and I dashed out of the classroom and ran straight for the lake, leaving Eddie far behind. We were all out of breath when we finally arrived at our spot.

"Why the rush? I know we're important and all but you didn't have to run to keep us from waiting," Rod joked.

"Oh, you're so funny," I replied with an eye roll.

"Actually we were running from one of Lenny's many admirers."

The new joke in our group was all of the new students that had developed a sort of crush on me. Mari was always surprised at my shock that someone would be interested in me. "I'm telling you Len, as soon as we find our rhythm in school, we're starting up those self-esteem classes I told you about."

"Theirs is nothing wrong with my self-esteem! Just because I'm realistic about my looks doesn't mean I have poor self-confidence or anything! And what you say about all these boys liking me, I'd much prefer they like me because I'm smart or funny. I've never met any of the guy you mentioned."

"Think what you will. I'm still giving you those lessons though and there's nothing you can do about it." That's how most of our conversations had been on the subject. I was hoping that things would only pick up from here to keep her distracted.

"Helen, you have to stop being so interesting. Your boyfriends are ruining our lunch date," said Logan with a smirk.

"Shut up Logan. At least I have people interested in me. The only female you talk to on a regular basis aside from us is Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall."

Everyone laughed hard at that, including Logan. I looked to Mari who still hadn't decided whether she liked him or not. She laughed like the rest of us, but it wasn't real; I could see how she looked at him, like he was the only one here. No matter what she said to deny it, I knew that she had made up her mind on Logan and that she had definite feelings for him. There was one other person here though that might have something to say about their relationship, and he was sitting right next to me. By now, even Mari could tell Antony liked her. No matter how subtle he tried to be, we could see right through him. Simple gestures such as helping her up from the ground and holding her hand a little longer than necessary to helping her find her homework and retracing her steps added up in our eyes. Despite all of this, he seemed to be oblivious to his affection's feelings. Ann had told me that first year was going to be interesting, but I never knew so much drama would be involved, especially so early in the year.

Things were getting interesting in the dormitory, too. The other girls decided that Roger was the cutest boy in our House (at least in our age range, since it was well known that seventh years were out of our league) and had tried to become best friends with Mari. Not that it would have mattered—Mari wouldn't put in a good word for them anyway. Antheia had become more and more aggressive with Roger. Her putting in the extra effort to her already stunning looks was only the first step. She soon started insisting that they work together on homework and always showed up to support his team in the Quidditch games.

"If he weren't so thick, he would have realized what Ann was doing already." Mari and I had this idea that if they got married, we'd become family. We became fixated on this notion and did whatever we could to help the cause.

"Helen, come on! One more class to go before we can get ready for the feast!" I heard Mari speak. I didn't realize that lunch had finished. I quickly ate the rest of my food and got up to catch up to Mari.

"Hey Len! You forgot something!" someone yelled behind me. I turned to see Logan chasing after me with my schoolbag.

"Oh! Thank you so much. That's kind of important," I smiled. He returned my smile and handed my bag over. Our hands intertwined for a second as he helped me get the bag over my shoulder. He held onto my fingers for a moment, then quickly yanked his hand back.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tonight." He gave a small wave and ran back to the other boys.

"What took so long?" Mari asked curiously. "When he handed you your bag, he kind of just stood there."

"That was nothing," I spit out quickly. "Just nothing. He got his hand stuck in the strap, that's all."

"Oh. Well let's go to class. I'm pretty sure it's going to be another easy lesson like McGonagall's."

I didn't tell Mari the truth about what really happened. That when he was holding my hand, it felt like electricity charging through my body. That my hand tingled, was still tingling, after he let go. Or more importantly, that I'm pretty sure he felt the same way. I kept my mouth shut the entire way to class, left with my own confusing thoughts.

****

We learned quickly that the Halloween feast was no joke around Hogwarts. They didn't dress up in costume like the Muggle's did, but spirits ran just as high. While the male population was excited most about the food, the females took the holiday as an opportunity to improve on our looks. In Ravenclaw tower, the girl's dormitories were as busy as a beehive. Girls could be seen running up and down the stairs swapping make up and helping others with hair. Antheia and her friends took it upon themselves to help us first years.

"The important thing is to not be _too _obvious with the improvements," she started. "Imagine you're getting ready for a fancy party. Put too much make up on, and you'll look like a fool that's tried too hard. Subtlety is key." The other girls nodded their heads vigorously. Each of them had their eyes on someone and were willing to put forth the effort in hopes of getting noticed. Still feeling confused about my moment with Logan, I didn't know what to do. Should I downplay my looks so that Mari could work for his attention, or do I try to look my best in hopes he notices me over my best friend? Luckily, the older girls decided for me.

"Each of us has picked a girl to help makeover. We're all finished with ourselves, so we'll do all we can to help you. Lenny, obviously I'll be helping you. Cheyenne has Mari, Cho is with Phoebe, Iris is helping Marietta and Lanika will be helped by Clair. Let's get started!" Ann made her way over to me.

"Aren't you all organized big sister."

"Of course I am little sister," she said pulling at my hair. "I am a Ravenclaw after all. I am meticulous and organized in everything I do. You know that better than anyone. Now what I want to do is curl your hair. Not too big, but there will be some definite curls. This is your first Halloween here at school, it has to be perfect!"

I left her to finish my hair. I didn't even know where she got all of her hair products from. When she finished, she spun me around to get started on my make-up. I took a look around the room to see my friends giggling in their chairs.

"Eyes back on me Len. Okay, even though I said that you got the wrong name, you're still kind of pretty."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I interrupted.

"Shush. Now I want to make your eyes stand out. They're incredibly blue, let's make them pop." Ann pulled out the same bag that I stole the first day of classes and began pulling out tubes. "This should do the trick," she said to herself. "Open your eyes wide."

The next fifteen minutes, I did whatever Ann told me to. I watched as she applied, then wiped off, make up. Finally, when we had five minutes before we had to leave for the Great Hall, she declared me finished.

"Wow Antheia," I heard Cheyenne say. "Just, wow."

"Thank you. I have to say Len, you look like you match your name for the first time ever." She spun me around to face the mirror. The face starring back at me didn't even look like me. For the first time in my memory, I looked like my sister. My hair was curled to perfection, just like Ann's was. My eyes popped like she had promised. My lips were glossed and I looked like a movie star.

"Ann…I don't know what to say."

"You can say thank you." I turned around and hugged her instead.

"Aw!" everyone around us chorused.

"Oh, enough of that," she said, but she winked at me as she said it. "Let's go everyone! Make those heads turn!" We filed out of the dormitory with the other girls in our House. Some of the older boys were waiting around in the common room for their girlfriends. Their reaction when they saw them was amazing. Jaws dropped and they were left speechless. Roger and his mates were on their way out when Antheia and her friends called out for them to wait. He turned around and stopped dead in his tracks. I wasn't surprised. If I looked like Helen of Troy, my namesake, then Ann looked like Aphrodite herself. Her hair bounced, her blue eyes twinkled and her smile was as wide as the day was long.

"Hold up, wait for us," she said nonchalantly, as if she looked like she did everyday. "Sorry I couldn't make it to the study group, I had to help Helen with some of a Transfiguration essay, right Len?"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for the help!"

"It's not a problem is it?"

Roger could barely speak, let alone string together words in a coherent sentence. "It's...not-…not a big de-…it's fine."

"Oh good. I figure we can work on the homework later tonight or tomorrow. It's Halloween, let's just have fun!" Her and her friends walked down the stairs, leaving the boys running after them, shooting shocked glares as they went.

"Helen, you are so lucky to have her as a sister. She is a pro."

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize how lucky I am to have her." If she could get Roger with the snap of her fingers, she could definitely help me with my problems. "Come on, let's go down before we miss something."

As I walked arm in arm down the stairs with Mari, I heard the other girls whispering behind us. "I'm starting to think we have no chance with Roger as long as she's around. Time to move on…," someone whispered with a sigh. I smiled to myself and skipped down the corridor with Mari, hair bouncing.

****

The moment we entered the Great Hall, we forgot completely about the mission the older girls set before us. Every inch of the grand room was decorated—bats were flying between the floating candles, giant pumpkins lined the walls, the tables had miniature pumpkins lined down the middle and orange banners hung from the ceiling. Most impressive was the giant web that stretched from one end of the wall to the other behind the staff table. It was a sight to behold. After we snapped back to the chaos of the tables, the girls began searching. Cho, Marietta and Lanika were looking for new boys to fall in love with while Mari next to me was looking for Logan at the Hufflepuff table. He was easy to spot, given that his wavy hair was messed up and stood out from his head.

"Oh, there's Logan," Mari said innocently.

"Cut the act Mari. I know you've decided you like him." She turned red, but didn't deny my accusation. "Come on, let's go say hi before we sit down."

"No! We can't! It's way too obvious if we go over to say hi! He'll know!" I could see the terror in her eyes, but I was forcing her to go. Even if she didn't want to go, I did, just to see if I felt the way I did earlier.

"We have to! I told him that we'd see him at dinner. And I didn't mean see across the Great Hall. I'll be right next to you to in case you start to say something stupid. But I really don't get the big deal. You talk to him fine at lunch."

"But that's before I looked like _this_!" She pointed to herself and I could see her point. Her dark hair had been straightened and her eyes were carefully outlined like mine. She had her brother's sharp features and they were perfectly accentuated. Cheyenne had done a fantastic job. In fact, some of the boys at the Gryffindor table were taking notice at the good job she had done.

"Use your hotness! Let it give you confidence!" I was saying anything to get her to go. "If you don't, then I'll just say hi to him by myself."

"Alright, I'll go!" We walked to the Hufflepuff table confidently. Thankfully, he was sitting on the side closest to the main aisle, away from the Slytherin's. I could feel Odessa's harsh glare from here, I didn't want to actually face her, not yet at least.

"Hi Logan," I said as we got close to him. I was nervous that two Ravenclaws would draw the attention of the room, but I was fine after I saw people going from table to table chatting. Logan turned around and his eyes widened at the sight of us.

"Don't you two look…different."

"What, the make up?" spoke Mari. "We just put a little on for the special occasion, that's all. It is Halloween!"

I was surprised that the same electric feeling came back to me standing there. In a way, I was relieved that what I had felt was real, not just some trick of my mind. On the other hand, I was having electric feelings for my best friend's crush. Not good anyway you look at it. I smiled a lot so I wouldn't have to say anything. What bothered me more than how I was feeling was the way Logan kept looking at me while Mari was talking to him about something that had happened in Defense Against the Dark Arts today. Thankfully, Professor Dumbledore had tapped his glass signaling the start of the feast. Mari and I hurried back to our table and took our seats. Antheia caught my eye and gave me a knowing smile. I ignored her and turned my attention back to our headmaster. I didn't get to hear much of what he was saying since Mari was excitedly whispering to me the whole speech.

"I talked to him without looking like a mental person! And did you see the way he looked at me when we said hi? Lenny, he's the one, I can tell!"

I smiled encouragingly, but said nothing. I didn't trust myself not to say what I wanted to share. She would hate me, no doubt about it. Liking your friend's crush is breaking the unspoken rules of friendship. I tried in vain to focus on Dumbledore's speech and ignore the guilt that was building up inside of me. Finally, Professor Dumbledore had finished speaking and the food appeared on the table, distracting Mari long enough for me to clear my head.

The food at school was always spectacular, but they had really outdone themselves this night. The trays were overflowing with meats, potatoes, vegetables and breads. Just when we had stuffed ourselves with dinner, the trays cleared and were replaced with desserts. Pumpkin pie, cartons of ice cream, baked delights and cookies of every size and flavor were piled high on our plates. We barely had time to talk over our meal, we spent so much time eating. I thought it was funny that we girls had spent so much time on our appearance and yet here we are stuffing our faces. How animalistic we must have looked to the guys we were trying to impress! Mari had completely forgotten about Logan—she was trying to sneak some of the smaller cookies into the pocket of her robe. I turned to Rod at the Gryffindor table to see how he enjoyed the feast. I had been so caught up with Logan, I forgot to say hi to him earlier.

"Hey Rod! How'd you like the food? Fantastic, eh?"

He turned around and his eyes widened, much like every other guy in castle. I had no feelings for him, but the way he looked at me could be something I could get used to. He recovered quickly and gave me a run down of his favorite foods from that night, which turned out to be everything on the trays.

"I'm telling you, I don't know how I'm going to make it up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. I'm going to have a hard enough time getting off of this bench, you know?"

"I totally know what you mean. I ate way too much of that roasted chicken but it was so good!"

"Yeah, Cormac here is probably going to pass out at the table from all the turkey he ate."

Mari saw that I was talking to Rod and turned around to join the conversation.

"Hey, don't tell anyone, but I snuck a few cookies in my robe!" she whispered.

"Yeah, Mari, I know. Next time you sneak some food, do a better job sneaking it," I giggled. "I saw the whole thing!"

"Well, I can count on you not to tattle, you'll be begging for these cookies later tonight, I'm betting on it. It's the Gryffindor I'm worried about."

"Hey hey now," he said as he raised his hands up in innocence. "I didn't hear anything. Besides," he leaned in closer. "I'm pretty sure Antony is doing the same thing."

We looked next to Rod to see Antony cautiously taking a few items from the table, then placing them gently in his pocket.

"See? That's how you're supposed to do it!" I nudged her in her rib.

"Ow! Okay, I got it. Watch the nudging, that's where the stuff is!"

Antony turned around, sweets safely hidden and immediately turned red at the sight of Mari. He tried to say something, but stuttered instead and turned quickly around.

Confused, Mari asked "What was that about?"

"He's probably embarrassed for you because you have cherry juice dribbling down your chin!" I laughed. It was true, she did have some juice going down her chin, but I knew the real reason why he had blushed and stammered. This was the final bit of evidence that I needed to prove that he liked her. I decided to tell her that night in our room what I had learned. I didn't know how she would react to the news, especially since she had finally come to terms with her feelings about Logan. It was only fair to Antony though that she knew how he felt.

"Everyone!" Dumbledore spoke to the Great Hall, voice amplified of course. "I hope you have enjoyed this fantastic meal for prepared for this Halloween!" The students interrupted with loud cheers. He smiled and waited for us to simmer down. He continued. "I wish you all a Happy Halloween and a good night's rest!" He finished with a wave of his wand. Streamers flew out and confetti showered down to the floor. We cheered again, happy that the night had ended on such a spirited note. Even the staff was showing excitement, all except for Professor Snape. This didn't surprise me though and I didn't let his sour expression put a damper on my evening. Dismissed, the students began to file out of the exit and went to their common rooms. Mari and I stayed behind, knowing there was no point in leaving now. There was quite a jam building up at the exit and it was easier for us to just wait for the crowd to thin. Rod and his mates had the same idea and stayed behind with us. We turned in our seats so we could face each other and talk.

"Don't they see how pointless it is to try and leave now?" Cormac asked, looking at all the students cramming through the door. "I mean really, what's the rush? We're just going to our common room after."

"I don't know about you," spoke Antony, "but the common room and my bed are sounding pretty good to me right now."

"I hope you're not tired. If anyone should it's me. I had all the turkey," Cormac yawned.

"And you're not kidding when you say 'all the turkey.' I think you ate a whole tray by yourself!"

Everyone joked while I planned what I was going to say to Mari. Even now, Antony was stealing glances at Mari, and she didn't even notice. I had to do it when the other girls were in the bathroom or sleeping. I looked to the exit again to see that the traffic jam to leave was gone.

"Hey look, I think we can leave now."

"Eager to get back to bed Helen?" said Cormac.

"If anyone is it's you. I'm not the one that's yawning and has droopy eyes," I accused. He yawned again bringing laughs from everyone.

"Point taken," he said as he threw his arms around mine and Rod's shoulders. "Let's go!" We all got up and ran to the doors and up the stairs laughing, enjoying the last bits of our night. We got told off by Filch on the second floor for running which made us laugh even harder. When we got to the third floor, we split up for our separate towers.

"Here," I said handing Cormac over to Antony. "He's all yours now!"

"Ha, thanks I guess." He took Cormac's arm and threw it over his own shoulder. "Whoa, Mac, I think all that food made you even heavier than normal," he joked.

"Shut it and carry me up the stairs."

"Night Len, night Mari!" His eyes lingered on Mari as I expected, but of course she didn't notice.

"Goodnight guys!"

"See you tomorrow," Rod said as he turned to go down the corridor that would lead them to their tower.

"Come on, let's go!" Mari grabbed me by the arm and we walked off to Ravenclaw tower. "Tonight was pretty fantastic wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I saw you eating."

"Well, not just the food, but everything. The makeover, talking to Logan, laughing with the guys, just…everything."

"Yeah, you're right." The plan had been to tell her about Antony in our common room, but I was pretty sure that it would be full with lingering students. "So I have something to tell you. It's kind of important."

"Oh? What?" She looked at me with a smile still on her face, which gradually faded away as she saw the seriousness on my face. "What? What's wrong? Is it bad?"

"Well…" I trailed off.

"Oh it's bad, you don't even want to tell me. Just spill okay?" We reached the tall staircase and started climbing.

"It's not really bad. It just depends on how you look at it, you know? One of those type of things."

"If it's not so bad, then why are you hesitant to tell me?"

"Okay! So I've put a lot of thought into this, and looked at every possible explanation for this, but the only one that I've come to is that Antony likes you a lot," I spat out quickly.

She took her time registering what I said. "Can you repeat that again?"

"Antony likes you."

She gave one large nod of her head before speaking. "And how did you come to this conclusion?"

So level headed, even in time of a crisis. So much like a Ravenclaw. "I noticed awhile ago that he kept starring at you at lunch or whenever we would hang around each other during free period. And I had a feeling it was because he liked you but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions, so I kept on watching him. Every time, it never failed, he would sneak glances at you when he thought no one was looking. Hold up." We had gotten to the eagle knocker and waited for our riddle. We answered the riddle quickly, passed through the common room and went into our dormitory. I was pleased to see that the other girls were already sleeping.

"Double check," I whispered to Mari. She nodded and we carefully peaked around their drawn curtains. Cho was snoring quietly and Marietta was breathing deeply, the way she always slept. Mari gave me the okay to keep talking and we jumped onto her bed. She drew the curtains around us and lit her wand so we could see each other.

"Continue," was all she said.

"Okay, so tonight was what finally convinced me. You know when he looked at you after dessert and I said the reason he got all red in the face was because he was embarrassed for you?"

"Yeah, well I had juice on my face."

"But the _way _he looked at you was what told me! The look told me that he was starring at you like a fool because he liked what he saw! I'm telling you, the look on his face was complete and utter awe at your face."

I gave her a minute to collect her thoughts. There was a lot of sighing and putting her head in her hands, but I was patient. Finally, she looked up and spoke again.

"So you're positive that he likes me?" she whispered.

"Yes."

"Well that certainly complicates things, doesn't it? With Logan?"

"Yeah, that's why I didn't want to tell you. Cause' I know you're good friends with both of them and you don't want to hurt their feelings."

"But what do I do Lenny? I need to get it across to Antony that I don't like him, but I don't even think he knows that I know! What I should do is get Logan to realize that he likes me. And then when he realizes that I don't feel the same way about him he'll get the picture and, well, give up on me." My heart tugged as she said that. I was beginning to realize that liking Logan was going to have way more consequences than I could have imagined. I was starting to feel jealous already just hearing Mari talk about snagging him. I kept a straight face and tried to smile encouragingly. I felt my mouth tighten up in defiance, but I had to keep my feelings out of this. She had claims on him first, I kept telling myself. But I don't care!, screamed another side of me. Act selfish! Take him for yourself! Why put your feelings second to hers? I pushed those thoughts away and tried to come up with ideas for Mari to get Logan to admit his undying love for her. It was hard, but eventually she grew tired and decided to put the rest off for tomorrow.

"We can talk about it some more in Professor Binns class. We'll just pass it over in notes," she yawned, pulling on her pajamas. "I can't think straight right now, way too tired and way too late to start strategizing. If I come up with something now, it'll probably have the opposite effect and I'll end up forcing him into the arms of someone else!"

"Yeah. Wouldn't want that to happen!" I said, pushing out the image of him whisking me away from a crazed Mari.

"Anyways, night Len. See you early in the morning!"

"Oh, I'm going to the Owlery again. I have another letter to send out." I wasn't lying. I really did have a letter to write. And even if I didn't, I'd write one just so I could escape the talk of Operation: Get Logan first thing in the morning. Besides, it was kind of fun to run into Rod in the mornings. It hadn't happened every time I went there, but when we did run into each other, it was always fun.

"Right, right," she mumbled. "See you in the Great Hall then." She yawned one last time before she passed out.

I took my time getting ready for bed. I slowly took my time getting dressed, I carefully brushed every tooth in my mouth, I slowly drew the curtains around me. Finally, I was left with all the negative thoughts I had tried so hard to push away all afternoon. What was I going to do? Why did it have to be Logan that I liked? Why couldn't it have been Cormac or Rod? All I wanted was for me and my friend to be happy, but the way things were going, it didn't seem likely. It appeared as if I would have to choose either my happiness or Mari's. How can so much power be put in such a small person's hands? I lay there trying to come up with a plan that would make everyone happy but my mind drew a blank. The plans I did come up with ended up with me sabotaging Mari's plan and ended with her tears. I'm way too young to be dealing with problems this big, I kept thinking. You need some help. But who could I turn to? Ann was too wrapped up in her relationship with Roger to do me any good. It took me awhile until I finally thought of the solution: Cheyenne. She had grown to be something like another older sister in the short time I had been here, and she felt the same bond I did. Surely there was a time when she felt jealous of Antheia's claime over Roger. I'm pretty sure there was time when all the girls had a crush on Roger, but Ann being the leader of the group automatically had first dibs. If there was anyone that could help me in this kind of situation, it was Cheyenne. Happy that I had found a solution, I began planning a way to get her alone. The only time she was ever alone was when she waited in the mornings for Ann to finish getting room, but five minutes wasn't nearly enough time, I thought, to get through what I needed. Feeling tired, I settled on the fact that I had something planned to help. I fell asleep fast, satisfied that everything would be fixed soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: This is the last chapter I have written. So now I really have to get myself to write again, which shouldn't be too hard. I already have the main events mapped out for Ch. 7, I just need to actually, well, write it. Anyway, enjoy! And of course, all of Harry Potter world belongs to the fab J.K. Rowling. **

"So I have a problem. But I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about it. Especially my sister and Mari. Promise?"

"Promise."

I was sitting on the grass under a tree with Cheyenne. It had been three days since the Halloween feast, three long days. I finally got a chance to talk to Cheyenne alone during one of the Quidditch games. It was a perfect setting. Ann wasn't there because Roger wasn't playing. Quidditch practice had started really kicking in and Roger didn't have time for those and fake games on top of homework. With no Roger to support, Ann had taken to studying in the library with her friends. Today though, Cheyenne decided to take advantage of the last of the nice weather for the year and sit outside to watch Mari play with some other students.

"First, I have to ask you a question. And answer honestly, it's important. Have you ever liked Roger as more than a friend while you knew Antheia liked him and had, well, claim over him?"

She took a deep breath before she answered me. "Yes. There's been a few times where my hormones got a little out of control. But I hardly see how that pertains to you unless—oh Helen. You're only a first year!"

"Well weren't you a first year too when these…feelings came about?"

"I guess so. But really? With Mari right?"

"Unfortunately. If it had been Cho or the others I wouldn't feel as bad. But since it's her, my best friend, I feel—"

"So incredibly guilty that you could ever think such things about her? Yeah, I know where you're coming from. It's a tough road to walk."

"Well this is what I need your help with! How do you deal with it? Because I don't see you making any moves on Roger? How do you keep your feelings out of it?"

"It's easy. Antheia got him first. It's as simple as that. And it's my job as best friend to wish her the best of luck no matter what I'm feeling because he's rightfully hers."

"But isn't it hard sometimes?"

"Oh yeah. There's days when he just walks into the common room or the classroom and he just looks so positively perfect it's hard to look at him. But I push past it. Because I know if Ann ever found out, it would hurt her so much. And I don't want that. Would you?"

"Of course not! But, it's just so hard!"

"It gets easier. It's really hard to push past those feelings in the beginning. You want to act selfishly, get the guy for yourself. But you have to think: is this really worth losing my best friend over?"

I hadn't thought about it that way. I knew that it would hurt Mari if she found out, but in my mind she always recovered and wished us the best of luck. I never thought that she'd be so hurt by my actions that she would just walk out on me. Could I handle not having Mari in my life? I knew the answer before I even finished that thought. In the month or so that we'd been at Hogwarts, Mari and I had grown so incredibly close, there were times when she felt more like my sister than Ann.

"Now I've been around you two long enough to know the answer to that question, which is no. You guys are about as close as me and your sister. And you wouldn't want to do anything to hurt her, right?" I nodded. "Here's what I usually do. Whenever those feelings push themselves to the surface, just think of the hurt it would cause Mari if she found out. And in time, another someone will catch your eye."

"If you say so."

"Just out of curiosity, why don't you want me to tell Ann? She is your sister."

"I just think that she's so wrapped up in Roger that if she tried to help me, she'd end up doing more harm than good. I don't want her getting involved really."

"I guess I understand. She is pretty preoccupied right now. But don't rule her out completely Helen. Believe it or not, she knows a lot that can help you. Maybe not with your particular situation," she explained reading the confusion on my face, "but with boys in general. She racked up a lot of information on them last year. She can be a big help if you let her. I've got to go meet up with her actually. Thanks for coming to me Len. It means a lot that you can come to me with your problems."

I gave her a hug as she stood up. "Thanks for helping me with my problem. You've been a big help!" I watched as she ran up to the castle before I sat down again. As I watched the game go on, I thought about Logan. Lately, I had been avoiding thinking about him. I was fine whenever we were together at lunch or after class. It was those times when I was alone that I thought about his hair, his smile, the way he laughs, everything about him. He just seemed so perfect. I couldn't imagine, at least not now, someone catching my attention the way he did. But I had to try. If we weren't meant to be and someone else as destined to be mine, then I had to be prepared to let him in, whomever he may be. At that moment, Rod came from behind and sat down next to me.

"Hey! I didn't even see you come down."

"I didn't think you would," he grinned. "You were zoning out again."

"Yeah, I've been doing that a lot lately, haven't I?"

"Not more than usual. So what's on your mind this time?"

Your cousin. "Nothing, just classes and stuff."

"That's what you always say. What are you really thinking about?"

"What? I am!"

"Why in the world would you be thinking about classes? You're at the top of almost everything. Like grades are really concerning you. Besides, the look on your face says it's something a little more serious."

"Oh fine, you caught me. But I can't tell you," I smiled.

"Ah, a secret. Let me guess, boy issues?"

"How did you know?" I didn't even bother lying to him. Having talked to him every day, he knew me too well and would know if I was lying to him.

"Well, you're a girl. And isn't that what's always on your mind?" I shrugged. "Maybe I can help," he offered.

"How can you be of any help?"

"I don't know if you know this but," he leaned in close. "I'm a guy."

I laughed. "No, really?"

"Yes, believe it or not, I'm a guy. Which makes me a certified expert on guy stuff. So what's the deal? You like someone and he doesn't like you back? Is it one of your admirers?" he joked.

"Very funny. And thanks for the help, but I've already asked someone for help."

"Really? Because you still look incredibly confused about whatever your boy problem is."

"I only asked her a few days ago. I hardly expect things to get fixed right away."

"True. But really, if you need anything, I'm right here." I saw something flash in his eyes, but it disappeared almost as soon as I saw it, almost like an honesty in his eyes. "Because I am an expert on this type of stuff remember?" jumping right back into his playful self.

"Alright expert, I got you."

"Hey, now that I've helped you with something, can you return the favor?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"It's not much of a favor actually, it's a question. Has that Odessa girl been giving you any problems? In class or in the corridors?"

"Not for awhile. She pushed me in the corridor on my way to the Great Hall that one morning when we first met in the Owlery. And there's been a few times where she's pushed me and Mari on our way out of History of Magic. Though it's not actually her that's pushing us, it's been her friends. Why?"

"Just making sure. The same thing has been happening to me and the other guys. It's never been her, like you said, but it's been some of her mates in Slytherin. I asked Logan if anything has been going on with him but he said they've steered clear of him."

"Just like you said."

"What?"

"Awhile ago, you said that they wouldn't get him and that it wouldn't be her so she wouldn't be connected with what's been going on."

"Oh yeah. Well, I just wanted to see if it was just us she was targeting. So has she done it recently?"

"No. Mari and I never do anything back. We make sure we don't give her the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of us. Eventually they stopped. I guess they were hoping we'd tell Logan and he'd act out."

"That's good. I'll have to tell Cormac that. He has a detention tonight with Professor Snape because he got caught pushing one of her minions into a wall after Potions."

"He got _detention_ for that? That's maybe a couple of points off from Gryffindor though, not detention worthy."

"Yeah, but its Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin House, remember? Figures he would take the side of his own. They're not kidding when they say he plays favorites."

"No kidding. I can't believe he has a detention though. That's crazy."

"He's fine with it. He said it was worth it."

"So much like a boy."

"Hey, I'm going to go. See if I can get some homework help from the guys before Mac heads off for detention."

"Homework, really? Look at you being all studious. I thought it was the Ravenclaw's that were supposed to be the nerds. You're messing up all the House stereotypes."

"Believe me, I had no intention of turning into you. But the scores from the last Charms test came in and there is no way I'm going to let a girl beat me."

Charms test. I had been waiting on the results all day! "Wait, who came in first? Obviously a girl, but who?"

"You, of course. What, don't tell me you're actually surprised? Honestly, the way you study, I'd say you're in the running for top grades of our whole year."

"I had the top grade?" I squealed excitedly.

"Yes, now please stop rubbing it in. I came in second to you. Watch it Eddy, you won't be top for long. I'll knock you out of the top spot if it's the last thing I do!" With that, he ran back to the castle, school bag flying behind him.

I hadn't felt this happy in awhile. Being around Rod was so easy. He knew how to make me laugh and forget about all of my problems. Plus, he started a competition between us. That I was looking forward to. It was true that I had been putting a lot of effort into my grades. I enjoyed being better than Ann at something and I wanted to keep up the streak. She could be the best at (almost) everything in her year—someone had to take that spot for ours and I had no reason not to believe that it could be me. It seemed that Rod was as smart as he was funny. I would have to wait till the Christmas holidays when the scores for first term would be known to see who my biggest competition was, but I had a good idea, the way he was talking.

The sun was setting lower and lower and it was becoming more difficult to see the quaffle. The game was cut short and Mari skipped over to me.

"Hey, did you see that score I just made?"

"Sorry, but Rod came over and we got to talking."

"Talking, sure…"

I hit her softly in the arm. "It's not like that! We _were _talking. About that Slytherin girl."

"Oh, Odessa? Spill. What's new with the ice queen?"

"You know how at the beginning of the term she had her friends pushing us around? She had them doing the same to Rod and Cormac and Antony. But they didn't exactly handle themselves like we did. Cormac pushed them back _into a wall_ outside of Potions."

"No way! Did he get caught?"

"Yep, by Snape himself. Naturally, he has a detention later tonight after dinner. Anyways, I told him that me and you have been ignoring them and they eventually left us alone. He said he'd tell the others."

"Yeah, good plan. If he keeps racking up detentions, Logan might find out and who knows what might happen then. It's better if we deal with it ourselves and keep him out of it."

"Exactly. You know, even though we're not getting pushed around anymore, she still keeps shooting death glares at us from across the Great Hall. I have a feeling she's planning something worse."

Mari shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I've been noticing those too. I've been trying to ignore her though. But I think you're right. We'll just have to be careful."

"Look who it is. It's the ice queen herself," I pointed to the left of the entrance. Odessa was walking towards what looked like the Quidditch field.

"Since when did she become interested in sports? She can't be serious about it. She'd be a horrible player!"

"Wrong build?"

"No, she has a great built for a Seeker actually. But you know her type. She'd be all fussy about her hair getting blown all over or something ridiculous like that. No, she's definitely up to something."

"Should we follow her and find out?" I asked.

"To be honest, I really don't want to chase after a Slytherin right now. What I really want is a hot shower."

"But it could be something important," I warned.

"It could also be something really lame," she replied. "Let's just leave her be. Anyways, she might have people watching out for her. Like, to see if she's being followed. By us. It could be a set up!"

"Get real, Mari! I know she's the clever sort but do you really think she wants to get back at Logan so badly that she'll do just about anything to get him, or us, into trouble? You're putting way too much thought into this."

"You're the one who wanted to go after her!"

"I know, and I'm starting to regret mentioning that out loud! Listen, let's just go up to the common room, you can take a shower, and we'll relax over our Charms essay, sound good?" I asked, pushing her towards the entrance.

"Charms essay? It's not due till Thursday!"

"Part of being a Ravenclaw is being incredibly organized and focused," I said, holding me head up high much like my sister did. Mari burst out laughing.

"Okay, _Antheia, _what's the real reason?"

"Alright. When Rod came over to talk to me during the game, he said that I had the top grade in Professor Flitwick's class."

"That's fantastic!"

"Thanks, but he also said that he came in second to me, which set him off. Now he's started a competition with me to see who's going to come out with top grades this term. I'm not going to let a Gryffindor beat a Ravenclaw for top grades. I'm an Eddy after all, we're surprisingly competitive."

"That's all fine and dandy, but why do I have to my essay? I'm happy to procrastinate until Wednesday night."

"Act like a Ravenclaw Mari!" I cried as we ascended the tower staircase.

"I am!" she laughed. "We're known for getting good grades, not studying every hour of every day! Anyways, you've seen my grades. They're pretty good. Definitely better than Roger's which is all I really care about."

"I swear, the sibling rivalry between you two could give mine and Ann's a run for its money." We walked into our common room, which was pretty full at this hour. No one was tired yet, but no one was tired enough to go to bed quite yet except for a few.

"Here, go take a shower. I'm going to save a table for us and I'll be in here when you're done."

"I'll meet up with you in a few!"

I looked around and found an empty table near the windows. While I waited, I enjoyed the view. The sun was nearly set, leaving only a few rays on the mountains. I thought about writing another letter to mum and dad, but was disrupted by Eddie's voice behind me.

"Hi Helen! I didn't see you all day! Where were you?"

"Out by the lake all day mostly. We took some breaks to go eat lunch and dinner of course."

"By 'we' I assume you're talking about you and your Gryffindor friends?"

"Yes," I said stiffly. "And my Hufflepuff friend."

He shook his head sadly. "I don't get it. You spend all your time with them, yet you rarely hang out with those in your own House."

"Wrong. I hang out with Cho and Marietta and Lanika. Not as much as my other friends but we still talk. And I had a nice long conversation earlier this afternoon with Ann's friend Cheyenne."

"Alright, I'll give you that. But it seems that sometimes you wish you were sorted into another House."

It was as if someone slapped me. To me, someone who was dying to be sorted into Ravenclaw, that was a huge insult.

"That is a lie Eddie Carmichael," I hissed. I knew I must have looked terrifying because I saw his expression change from disbelief to fear in a matter of seconds. Most people never saw it, but Eddy's had a fierce temper and we weren't scared to unleash it if we had to. "I belong more in Ravenclaw than you do. The way you strut around bragging about being a Ravenclaw, the more you look like a Slytherin. If the hat made a mistake with anyone, it's you." I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the common room.

****

"What's wrong with you? I thought we were meeting in the common room?"

I was sitting on the edge of Mari's bed when she came out in her nightgown. I looked up at her sheepishly.

"I told off Eddie."

"Well that's good! Let him know where you stand in all this!"

"Mm, that's not it. I also told him that he's been acting like a jerk and that he belongs in Slytherin."

"Ouch. What brought that up?"

"He's just been hating on Rod and Cormac and everyone else and I'd finally had enough. I just exploded! There wasn't anything I could do to stop myself."

"Did you yell it for everyone to hear?"

"No, thank God. I did that really intense whisper yell thing."

"Very intense. Who knew you had a temper?"

"I did. The Eddy's have a long history of violent tempers. It's rarely seen, but from what I hear, it's pretty insane."

"Ah, blaming the genetics! Good move," said Mari as she went around her bed putting clothes away.

I laid my head on her pillow. "There is one plus to this: I'm pretty sure I've scared him off for good. When I turned on him, the same look I saw in his eyes was the same look he gets whenever Professor Snape asks him a question."

"Total fear?"

"Yup."

We sat in silence for a bit before Mari spoke again. "Are you going to apologize?"

"I think I'll have to. I'm feeling guilty for yelling at him. And I really hate feeling guilty for him."

"If you want, I can go check to see if he's still in the common room. He's probably cowering in a corner in fear."

"Not yet. I'm still mad at him. He's been saying horrible things about some of my best friends. I want him to feel a little fear and guilt for what he's said. Probably tomorrow though."

"Your call. So if we're not doing homework in the common room, is it safe to say we'll be writing in here?"

"Everything is all ready!" While she was in the shower, I took the time to get out our parchment and quills. "Ready to start writing?"

"Having a genius as a best friend sucks. If this competition between you and Rod keeps you studying all the time, I might have to start hanging out with Cho and her friends."

"Oh yes, having a genius friend must be horrible for you. Having someone tell you all the answers is a real pain."

"Shut it Helen before I throw this ink on you!" she joked.

"Come on, let's get this finished with. I'm dead tired!"

"You did nothing all day! You sat and watched me play Quidditch all afternoon."

"But I was up early!"

We stayed up for another hour writing our essay before we let ourselves get some sleep. Nights were always the worst for me. I did a good job of keeping myself distracted during the day with friends and homework. At night, everything that I spent all day avoiding would hit me like a ton of bricks. I hadn't seen Logan all day today. Was he avoiding me? Did I do something to upset him? I thought back to my conversation with Cheyenne, but thinking about that made me think of Logan more, which is exactly what I _wasn't_ supposed to do. Instead, I thought of the competition I was having with Rod. I laughed to myself when I remembered the way he called me by my last name. I did a mental list of all the things that I could do to help my grades go up. It would be easy for me to study harder for exams and not procrastinate on essays. The only bump in my way would be Flying lessons. I was doing pretty good considering I had never been on a broom before I got here, but Cho and Mari had a natural talent that made them much better fliers, no matter how much I practiced. I was determined to beat Rod though, and if that meant I had to wake up early to get more practice time in, then so be it. I eventually drifted off to sleep planning my new study schedule, dreaming of the day when we'd get our results from first term and gloating to Rod about my top grades.

The next few weeks passed slowly in a boring haze. Aside from my newly revitalized study schedule (which I got Mari to follow too, much to her displeasure) and me avoiding Logan at all costs, nothing of much interest had happened, at least to the majority of the students. My intense study sessions had done a huge boost for my grade. I could tell Rod was studying just as hard—he and I were consistently in the top two spots for every class, switching back and forth almost weekly. Our professors were certainly noticing. Rod and I were always getting praise in our classes (except in Potions which was to be expected) and our little circle had grown as the other students we were competing with joined our group.

The first newcomer was Katie Bell, a Gryffindor, therefore already known to the boys in our group. She introduced herself to Mari and me at lunch one day when she came to Rod about a question on homework in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Hey Rod, I'm having trouble with the essay we have due on Wednesday for Quirrel's class. Can you help me?"

"Sorry Katie, I would, but I left my book in my dorm."

Mari was still doing fantastically in this class and had already done the essay. "The essay about Disarming spells?" Katie nodded. "I can help you. Defense is pretty much my specialty."

"Oh, could you? Thanks so much! I'm Katie Bell by the way, from Gryffindor."

"No problem!" replied Mari, always eager to make a new friend. "And this is my best friend—"

"Helen Eddy. I know you already."

"Yeah, that's me. Are you familiar with my sister?"

"No, but I've heard of her before. Actually, Rod complains about you all the time in the common room," she laughed.

"Really?" I asked looking at Rod. He turned his eyes up to the sky trying to look oblivious to the conversation. "What does he say about me, just out of curiostity?"

"Ha, nothing bad. He just says that you're making him work much harder than he ever intended to. Something about a competition that he has to win…"

"Well he doesn't have to win. He can always slack off a little and let me win."

He snapped his attention back to me. "I've said it once and I'll say it again. Eddy, you're going down!"

Katie laughed. "What's the contest?"

"We're trying to see who's going to come out with the top grades for this term. At the moment, he's winning, but I put a lot of time into studying for that Transfiguration exam yesterday and I'm pretty sure I'll come out on top this week."

"Wow, you guys are crazy! I care about my grades a lot, but starting a contest to see who'll have better grades is way too much for me!"

"Thank you!" cried Mari. "Len roped me into her ridiculous study sessions. She doesn't even realize that she's ripping me away from my Quidditch games."

"I do too! But it's just no fun studying by yourself. Plus, I make sure I try to avoid weekend afternoons and don't even suggest I study with Cho and the other girls."

"Wait," interrupted Katie with interest. "Mari, you play Quidditch?"

"I try. Usually on the weekends, I'll get together with some of the people in my House and we'll have a small game over here by the lake."

"Sounds fun! I know I just met you, literally five minutes ago, but any chance I could join in? I have plenty of experience and I could definitely use some practice if I want to try out for the House team next year."

Cormac laughed. "Really Katie? You're trying out for the House team next year? Are you actually that good?"

"Better than you. Some of us aren't depending on our friendship with Oliver to get us on the team. Some actually want to try to get in based on talent." She sounded like she was joking, but there was a hint of malice in her voice.

"Honestly Katie. No need for lying to make yourself feel better. And for your information, being on friendly terms with Oliver has nothing to do with me trying out for the team. I could throw a quaffle into the hoop blindfolded," he shot back with the same tone.

"You couldn't make a goal if you were right in front of the hoop with no Keeper."

"Okay!" Rod jumped in. "We get it, you're both good at Quidditch. Let's leave it at that, yeah?"

"Of course," said Katie. I liked her already. I remembered her from the grades sheet. She wasn't at the top like Rod and I were, but she definitely had brains. Mari seemed to warm up to her too. The two of them were talking about Quidditch while Mari helped Katie with her essay. Cormac went to the common room muttering to himself, shooting dirty looks at Katie the whole walk back. I moved over to Rod and Antony, who were talking about Odessa.

"Did she do something again?" I asked.

"Not yet," replied Antony. "It's what she isn't doing that has us worried."

"She hasn't done anything to any of us since Mac's detention. We think she's planning something bigger to get a reaction since the pushing doesn't seem to have the effect she was hoping for."

"Planning something bigger?" I flashed back to the day I talked with Cheyenne. I remembered seeing her go down to the Quidditch field and Mari thinking she was planning something big. I had completely forgotten to tell Rod. "Okay, do you remember the day we started this grade war? Not long after you left when everyone had wrapped up the game, Mari and I saw Odessa walking towards the Quidditch field by herself. Not suspicious, but definitely a little strange, don't you think?"

"Yeah, definitely. We should start paying close attention to her. Same goes for the other Slytherin's she has wrapped around her manicured finger."

"How do you know her finger is manicured?" I teased.

"She was looking for an empty compartment on the train ride at the start of the year. Before I realized just how evil he is, she was a potential Mrs. –"

"Oh, gross!" I interrupted. "How could you even think that? You seriously couldn't see the evilness rising off her body?"

"Hey, I'm a boy first and foremost. Don't attack me!"

"And in Rod's defense, she did look alright at first," spoke up Antony.

"Oh you two!"

"Rod, I'm going back up to the common room. I forgot to ask Professor Flitwick something about our last exam. I'll catch up with you at dinner. Bye Len!"

Now that Antony had left, it was just me and Rod. Mari and Katie were finished working and were in a very in depth discussion about different Quidditch strategies.

"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Rod leaned over and asked me.

"Absolutely not. To be perfectly honest, if it doesn't have anything to do with our classes, I don't understand it." This was true. Look at the Logan situation. I was clueless.

"You know, over Christmas break, lots of students start to slack on their schoolwork. Any chance you'll fall victim to the lazy spell?"

"In your dreams. I plan on kicking it into overdrive after break. Lucky for you," I smiled.

We settled into a peaceful silence for a few minutes, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I spotted Logan for the first time in weeks coming out of the castle and walking to the greenhouses. I wasn't let down when my heart started fluttering and my cheeks blushed. The butterfly feeling as I was calling it disappeared when I saw him shoot a nasty look at a group of older Slytherin's. Either they didn't notice or they didn't care enough about an angry first year to do anything. Confused thoughts flooded my mind. Then I remembered a question that I had meaning to ask since the start of term. Now seemed as good a time as any to ask Rod. I broke the silence.

"Rod? I've been wondering, why does Logan hate the Slytherin's so much?" I heard his sharp intake of breath. "I mean, not a lot of people like them, but he seems to be taking it to a whole new level of loathing." Rod was silent for a minute or two.

"If you don't think you should answer, don't. Sorry if I went into something really personal."

"No, don't apologize. I really think you should know. Even if he doesn't, I think you should. It's not really up to him anyway, the same thing happened to both of us, we just reacted differently." He paused to take a breath.

"I'm guessing you already know a lot about You-Know-Who, right?" I nodded my head in agreement. "Alright, just checking, since you were raised in a Muggle world. So I guess I should start off with mine and Logan's relationship with our aunt, our mothers' sister. It's non-existent. She was murdered by Death Eaters at You-Know-Who's command before we were born." I gasped.

"I'm…I'm so sorry."

"Thanks. She was really outspoken in the Ministry about Muggle Born and Muggle protection. Unfortunately for her, this was during the peak of You-Know-Who's power. She practically put a big target on her robes. My aunt, Logan's mum, tried to get her to stop being so vocal about her opinions but she was ignored everytime. She always said that someone had to defend those in need in a time of crisis and it might as well be her since no one else stepped up to the plate. One night on her way home from work, she was murdered. She was only a few houses down from home and my aunt saw the green flash through the window and that was that.

"Now comes the part about Logan. So you know I said that his mum tried to stop our aunt? She took her death really hard. My guess is that she held herself responsible for her death. Since she wasn't able to keep her quiet, it was all her fault."

"She shouldn't feel that way," I spoke. "I don't know much about Death Eaters, but from what I understand, there's nothing you can do once you've been marked down, you know? An attempt to stop them would be in vain."

"That's exactly what our grandmother said, still says! My aunt isn't over what happened. She can't seem to get past her death. Like I said earlier, I've come to terms with it. Part of the reason is because my mum has come to terms with it. She still grieves from time to time, but she doesn't let it rule her life. Logan's mum is the exact opposite. And seeing his mum in misery all the time kind of shaped his views on Slytherin's as a whole as he grew older."

"That doesn't make sense either," I said, seeing him make his way back up to the castle. Rod followed my gaze and looked at his cousin with pity.

"I've tried telling him that it's wrong to label all the Slytherin's as Death Eaters, because I know he does. Whenever I bring it up, he just shuts down."

"That's horrible." Our gaze drew Logan's attention and he turned and waved. As we waved back, Rod asked me if I could not tell this story to anyone else.

"I don't mind telling you, but he might have a problem that I told a family secret."

"I promise. I won't tell a soul."

He smiled at me and turned back to face the castle. "You're not that bad Eddy."

"I never thought I was," I answered with a grin. The giant clock chimed, signaling the end of our lunch period. As we headed to our afternoon classes, I was plagued with thoughts of recent revelations. I pushed the thoughts to the back of my head.

Not now, I told myself. Wait till you're in bed. And I did. I went through the rest of my day merrily, not letting Rod's story linger on my brain for too long until I had said my goodnights and was tucked in warmly. Only then did I let my mind wander. A wave of new feelings washed over me as I drifted off to sleep with images of me comforting Logan in his grief weaving through my dreams.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling. But if she's willing to share….**

**A/N: I'm so sorrrrrryyyy! It's been so long since I posted a new chapter. But here it is, and to make up for the long wait, this one is 13 pages. I'll try to write a little bit each night, or at least devote one night a week to writing this story so I can finish it this year! Anyway, enough chatter, enjoy! Oh, and reviews are always nice. They remind me that I have a story to write when things get all crazy. **

If there was one thing that could distract even the most studious students from their work at Hogwarts, it was Quidditch. This Saturday before Christmas break started was the last game of the year. Spirits were already high when I entered the Great Hall.

"Wow," I said as I sat next to Mari. "You would think the match was today instead of two days from now."

"I wish the match was today. I missed the last match we played in, remember? I haven't had a chance to see how our team plays yet." The first match of the year, Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff, Mari was sick in the Hospital Wing. She had pestered me all day for a detailed description of the match, but my lack of Quidditch knowledge only put her in a worst mood.

"How can you not remember anything that happened? You just game back from the match and all you remember is the score? How did Roger do? How were the Beaters? Did anyone make any great saves?"

"Mari, I honestly don't know. Can't you just be happy knowing what the final score is?"

"Of course not!" She gave me the cold shoulder for the rest afternoon until she needed my help with a Potions essay. I'm convinced she's never forgiven me.

"We're going to have a hell of a time trying to keep focused in class. Potions, Flying and Charms today, right?"

"And History of Magic," she answered with an eye roll.

"Oh yes, so exciting. It's my favorite class," I answered with sarcasm. We ate breakfast in silence as we were listening to a conversation my sister and her friends were having about Roger. Mari and I had been following Ann's quest to snag Roger with great interest this term. So far, little progress had been made. She started dressing a little nicer, and it certainly got Roger's (and every other boy in her year) attention, but that was as far as it had gotten. Antheia was clearly frustrated at Roger for not having made the first move. I had approached her the previous week if she needed help with the whole situation.

"After all, Mari is Roger's sister. She can put in a good word for you if you ask her to."

"I don't need any help from a pair of first years!" she snapped. "I am fully capable of handling the situation myself!" With that, she stormed off into her dormitory, leaving me stunned and angry. She obviously couldn't handle the situation herself, as a stunt she had pulled the next day showed. When Roger entered the Common Room after dinner, Antheia called him over to sit next to her on one of the comfy couch's near the fireplace. "To study," she told him. She kept complimenting him on his writing and how cute he dressed. Being a boy, Roger took no notice of her compliments and started working like she had called him over to do. Ann quickly became frustrated with her lack of progress and ran off to her dorm. Since then, her schemes had become even more far-fetched. On the plus side, they were incredibly entertaining to listen to. The latest plan nearly had Mari and me in tears trying to hide our laughter. Her plan was, in a nutshell, to be his Secret Santa. She wanted to leave him little gifts anonymously and then reveal herself as the gift giver before we left for break, hoping that her thoughtfulness would make him realize that she was the girl of his dreams.

Mari and I were still in fits of laughter as we made our way down to the dungeons.

"How dull can she be?" Mari gasped. "Does she really think that Roger is going to like getting a bunch of little presents? It'll totally ruin his reputation as resident Tough Guy Quidditch Player!"

"She's going to go broke buying him all these things that he's just going to end up throwing in the rubbish bin! This is fantastic!" I felt a little guilty deep down for making fun of her. I knew that her intentions were pure and that she really did have feelings for Roger. But then I recalled how she reacted when I had tried to help her along. The guilt quickly ran away and I started laughing up again as I pictured her face when he pushed her aside to sit with his friends in a compartment on the way back.

As Mari and I took our seats in the back of the Potions classroom, Professor Snape stepped in, cape billowing behind him.

"Silence," he spoke in his usual low, near whisper, voice. All conversation ceased quickly as he explained today's lesson.

"Turn to page 57 in your books. On the right side of the page you'll see the ingredients needed to prepare a Sleeping Draught. You have the rest of the lesson to prepare this potion and leave a labeled vial of it on my desk. Clean up your cauldron's when you're finished and you may leave the class when you've finished." He took a pause to survey the class. "Well?" We all rushed to the ingredient cabinet to retrieve the necessary items. About a month after the start of term, we stopped working in partners and began working solo. I didn't have any trouble with this. My so called "beginner's luck" with Potions turned out to be a real talent. It seemed that my mum's talent at Potions skipped a child. Antheia was nothing short than devastated when she saw that my Potions grade had consistently been in the top percentage of the class and my year. Thinking about Ann made me upset all over again. I was crazy to think that Hogwarts would solve all of my relationship problems with my sister. If anything, it had gotten worse without Mum and Dad to break us up when our fighting got out of hand. Now it was left in the hands of Cheyenne, who hated being caught in the middle. When our fighting really got out of control, Cheyenne pulled me aside to tell me that publicly she would side with Ann on everything.

"But don't hate me for it. It's just, well, the only way it'll get your sister to calm down. Me trying to take sides just seems to make every situation ten times worse. But if you want to talk about things even further, just ask me when Ann's not around, yeah?"

Cheyenne was such a nice girl. I really couldn't see how Antheia had grabbed herself such a great best friend. The two were polar opposites, but I guess they somehow fit. Ann trusted her over all of her other friends, even the twins, who I had also grown somewhat close to.

Lost in my thoughts, I finished my Sleeping Draught in record time, only forty five minutes. Snape saw me gathering up my things and preparing my vial. He shot me a glare, as if my excellence in Potions bothered him, which it probably did. He cleared his throat, snapping the students out of their cauldrons for a moment.

"Your assignment over break is to write me a foot of parchment on the complexities of the Sleeping Draught and a minimum of five uses that it can be used in day to day life." He smirked slightly as the class groaned in unison. He looked at me again, almost as if to see if the news of the assignment would knock me down a peg. Yeah right. I whispered to Mari that I would meet her at Flying lessons and dropped off my vial on Professor Snape's desk. I quickly wished him a happy break and made my way to the library. It was quite empty when I entered; then I remembered that I was excused from class early and that, of course, it would be like this. A few students were scattered about since it was too cold to be outside lounging about. Madam Pince, the crabby librarian, stopped me before I could take a seat at an empty table near the back.

"And what exactly are you doing roaming about the castle at this hour? Don't you have classes to attend?" She peered at me over her glasses.

"I finished my potion early and Professor Snape said that when we were finished we could leave."

"Is that so? Well if that's the case, find a seat. I don't want anyone loitering in the entrance." I stared at her as she walked briskly to her desk at the front of the room. She was definitely not in my top favorite staff members at school. She was nearly as bad as Filch, though certainly better in the hygiene department; Merlin knows what he's doing in his room, but it certainly isn't bathing.

I took a seat in a corner with a view of the giant clock behind the front desk so I wouldn't be late. Most of the students here were older, fourth year and up, working on various projects that needed to be finished before break. I pulled out my Potions book to begin working on my assignment. I wanted to be homework free while I was home so I had been staying up late getting all of my work done. Mari laughed, but I told her I was the one that would be laughing when she was sending me owl after owl during break because she was stressed with the amount of work she had to get done. I had written out a couple of inches when a voice interrupted my work.

"Mind if I join you?" I looked up.

"Hey Mac, sure take a seat."

Cormac dragged a chair over to my desk and sat across from me. "What are you doing out of class? Don't you have Potions right now?"

"Yeah, but I finished early so Snape let me out."

"Genius Potion mistress finishes early again. I should have known!"

"What about you? What's your excuse?"

"I twisted my ankle on the staircase. There was a bit of water on the last step and WHOOSH fell right on my arse and my ankle was all messed up. Madam Pomfrey wrapped it up pretty nice though." He lifted his leg and pulled up his pant leg to show me his ankle wrapped tightly.

"That'll be good in no time. So are you excited for the match on Saturday? Mari is bouncing with excitement. It's getting quite annoying to tell the truth."

"I bet. Yeah I'm excited. I've been talking with Wood a lot this week and he said that they have a lot of stuff planned. So I'd suggest you tell Roger to bring all he's got to the field. You know Wood isn't playing around," he smirked.

"Oh, you think you're team is just _so _great because you have him on the team."

"Well, yeah! Haven't you seen him play? If he doesn't go pro when he's done here, he's mental."

"All I'm going to say is, don't overestimate him. And don't underestimate our team either. I don't know much about Quidditch, but from what I've seen of Roger, he's not that bad."

"I hope you don't mind if I don't take your uneducated word on _that _particular matter Len."

"Not at all. How's Rod doing with his work?"

"Alright I guess. He spends every waking moment studying or triple checking his homework. I blame you for that."

"You should be blaming him, he's the one that started this whole competition!"

"Shh! I can hear you're conversation from here!" Madam Pince whispered angrily. "One more word and you'll both be out of library!"

"Yikes lady, take the broomstick out of your—"

"Cormac!" I nudged him under the table, holding in my laughter. "Not in here, wait till we're outside at least!"

"Fine, fine. But you can't say I'm wrong in saying it," he smiled. "So how are things with you and Rod anyway? Aside from the academics."

"Pretty good. We get together and do some homework with Mari and Angela sometimes."

"What? Without me? I'm shocked. Leaving poor old Mac and Antony out in the cold with nothing but our mediocre grades to keep us warm," he trailed off.

"Not our fault you don't apply yourselves. If you want to spend your time using your charm to lure in innocent girls, that's up to you."

"That it is Lenny. I can't help it that I have this extremely athletic body and good looks. It would be a waste not to use them to my advantage."

"You know, if it weren't for the fact that you make me laugh, I'd call you a jerk."

"And if one of my friends wasn't mildly attracted to you, I'd call you hot."

My jaw dropped. "Who…thinks I'm attractive?"

"Like I'd tell you!" he laughed.

"That's IT! I see no work getting accomplished in this corner! Out of my library! OUT," Madam Pince was right in front of us, fuming. She picked us up from the back of our robes and we scrambled to get all of our belongings before she could drag us to the door. Some of the older kids were laughing in silence. My face turned a bright red, but I could see that Cormac had a wide, smug smile on his face.

We were dropped (rather rudely I might add) on our bottoms right outside the entrance.

"Well that was an experience we'll laugh about later," Cormac said, picking himself up.

"No it won't!" I got myself up faster and kicked him in his twisted ankle. He gave a small cry of pain before falling back to the floor.

"What the hell Len? That was my ankle!"

"THAT'S for getting me kicked out of the library! I'll never be able to show my face in there until after break! Do you know how much work I have left to do?" I turned on my heel and stormed down the hallway towards the main entrance.

"The infamous Eddy temper," I heard him mutter as I walked away. "They're not kidding what they say about it."

****

It was the day of the big match. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. That morning at breakfast, the entire school was decked out in support of their favorite house, even the Slytherin's. Naturally, they were supporting the Ravenclaw's and were proudly sporting blue pins and anti-Gryffindor buttons. One of the older Slytherin's had charmed the buttons into screaming "GRYFFINWHORES!" but Professor McGonagall quickly took them all and gave the creator a week's worth of detention. Mari and I took our usual seats at the insanely loud Ravenclaw table. Supporters from other Houses kept coming up to the Quidditch players and wishing them luck. I gave Mari a nudge when I saw that my dear sister was sitting next to Roger. She kept telling him that he was going to do great, and that she would be the one in the stands shouting the loudest. The best part was that Roger didn't seem to notice; he was a light shade of green and kept looking in the direction of the loo.

"Uh, Mari? I think your brother is in desperate need of a pep talk from his loving sister." I took another look at him before I added, "And quick before he shows everyone what he ate for breakfast!"

"I see what you mean. I'll be back in a second. Save me a few pieces of bacon!" She took off and ran to the other side of the table. I saw as she tapped him on the shoulder and beckoned him to follow her to just outside the loo. She wanted to play it safe, and he definitely was starting to look worse. I was a bit jealous of the relationship between Roger and Mari. They weren't together often, but they really did love each other. They were never truly mean to each other, just the joking type of mean jokes. Then there was Antheia and me, who said thinks with the intention to hurt the other's feelings. It hurt, but we really did love each other deep down and it was such a shame that we didn't do a better job at showing each other just _how_ much we did love the other. The feelings of sadness disappeared as I thought to the way she treated me when I offered my help. Anger filled up again and I remembered how all of our fighting was her fault in the first place and if she wasn't so stubborn, maybe we wouldn't fight at all.

"Her Kicks, you're zoning out again! You alright there mate?" Cormac's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. We had made up yesterday at lunch. I told him I felt bad for kicking his ankle and I offered him a chicken wing as a peace offering. He gratefully accepted my apology (and food) and said it was his fault in the first place for being and arse.

"I should have known better than to get a brainiac kicked out of a library," he said. "That was a good kick though, I'll give you that. You should play that Muggle sport you were telling us about the other day, footieball or whatever. You know, I'm going to call you Kicks from now on. Yes, Kicks Eddy, just flows right off the tongue doesn't it?" I kicked him again in the shin, but the name stuck.

"Yeah, I'm alright, just looking forward to your team getting demolished by mine!"

"Oh, we want to play that game do we? Well—"

"Hey, hey, save the taunting for the match, yeah?" Angela broke in. "Len, where's Mari at? I have her Transfiguration notes."

"She's talking to Roger, she'll be back in a sec. Here, I'll hold them for her."

"Thanks!" she exclaimed as she passed them across the aisle. "Wow Lenny, even you're dressed up for the game. I never took you as a Quidditch supporter."

"What's good for my House is good for me, you know?"

"You mean Mari made you dress up?"

"Exactly."

She laughed. "Good for her. Nothing wrong with a little House pride! I'm going to head back up to my dorm, I left my jacket in there. I won't see you during the match, so see I'll see you and Mari after. May the best team win!"

"Thanks for the support, we will!" I shouted as she walked out of the Great Hall.

I turned around and saw Rod sitting in her place. He was looking at me curiously. "Interesting Len, very interesting."

"What is?"

"You seem very confident in your grades that's all. I would have assumed that you would be in the library doing some more studying in a sad attempt at beating my grades," he said shoving a piece of toast in his mouth.

"How ridiculous. I've already beaten your grades Rod, you should know that already. Or have you not seen the results from Sprout's last exam that she posted this morning?"

I watched with amusement as he almost choked on his toast. "What?! Already?" He took off to the greenhouses where Professor Sprout had posted the latest exam results this morning.

"Did she really post the scores from last Friday?" Antony, who had been paying attention to this whole conversation, asked.

"Indeed she did. I'm the one that begged her to do it this morning instead of after the match."

"What did I get?" both Cormac and Antony asked. Being close friends and all, we had all shared our numbers (we were each given a number for class so the professors could post exam results publicly without putting student's names on the paper) so only one person would have to check the grades for the group.

"Mac, you got a high A and Tony, you got an E. So not bad at all."

"Let me guess Kicks, you got an O, top of the class?"

I said nothing, but my huge smile told them that yes, I had come out on top this week.

"Does that mean you beat Rod this term?" asked Tony.

"Depends. We didn't start this till around the middle of the term so it all depends on who scored higher back in the beginning when we weren't keeping track."

"For our sakes, I hope he wins this. He'll be unbearable to be around if he lost to you."

"I second that. We'll have to kick him out of the dorm, he'll spend all night complaining."

Mari returned from her pep talk with Roger (who was looking considerably better) and joined in the conversation. We chatted for a few minutes before Dumbledore stood to announce that the two teams needed to head down to the field.

"I wish both of our House teams luck in what is sure to be an exciting way to end the term!" There was a large yell from the students as the teams left the Great Hall. Mari gave a Roger a reassuring thumbs up as he walked past. After the teams had cleared the room, the rest of the student body was dismissed to go down to the field. Before we were separated in the crowd, Cormac and Antony shouted "RAVENCLAW SUCKS!" at Mari and me and disappeared. We looked at each other before we burst out with laughter.

"It's going to be so much sweeter when we end up beating them!"

"Cormac will die!"

"Oh, before I forget, Angela gave me the notes that you lent her back. I'll keep them in my bag until after the match so you don't lose them or something."

"Ahh, thanks a bunch Lenny," she said as she threw her arms around me. She threw her arms off and she pointed a few people ahead of us. "Look! It's Logan! Do I look alright? And is that? I can't believe what he's wearing!"

I tried to look up casually to see what she was talking about. Sure enough, he was decked out in Gryffindor red. But what I noticed more was his eyes, his hair tossed about like he just got out of bed…

"C'mon! Stop dragging your feet!" I was being pulled through the hoards of people by my right arm.

"Hey there, watch the arm! I write with this one! Where are you taking me?"

"I told you already Len, we're going to confront him about his traitorous clothing choice. A line was drawn and he decided to cross it. He's chosen his side."

"I hope you're joking."

"Of course I'm not, but in that '_Haha, I'm mad at you, but I'm really flirting with you so it's okay and we're all going to joke about this later_' sort of way."

"Oh, well now that it's all cleared up, I understand perfectly now," I muttered under my breath. I didn't really want to go confront him. I really didn't want to talk to him. Actually, I didn't even want to see him. It goes against the rules Cheyenne set for me! Avoid the crush of your best friend like he has spattergroit. That's what she said. Not tag along while your friend foolishly flirts with him right in front of you! Today luck wasn't on my side and before I knew it, Mari and I were standing there talking to Logan and his mates with a bunch of pissed off students behind us.

"Really Logan?" I heard Mari ask. "You chose to support Gryffindor? I never expected this from you."  
"Hey, I've got to support my cousin. He said that if I wore Ravenclaw he'd stop helping me with Potions."

"Oh come on! Why would you take Rod's help when you have a certified Potions genius right here?" referring to me. This startled me. I had no intention on being involved in this conversation at all! I was just supposed to stand off to the side and wait. Now I was expected to say something.

"Is that true Len? Would you help me with Potions?"

"Of course I would," I forced myself to say. "Anything to get you to support the winning team." I even threw in a smile!"

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint but the decision has been made. Now excuse me, I have to watch some lions beat a bunch of ravens in a Quidditch match. Later!"

"I can't believe it!" Mari exclaimed as he left.

"I know, he's so stubborn."

"No, not that! I got through another conversation with him without acting stupid! Best. Morning. EVER!" A dreamy look came over her face.

"Alright lovergirl, let's get going to the Quidditch field. Linger any longer and we're going to be stuck in the back of the crowd."

She nodded her head but I knew she was lost. Hopefully the loud crowd would bring her back to Earth. Fortunately, we were able to find a great seat in the front. Since there were only two of us, we managed to squeeze ourselves next to Cho and the others. Sure enough, the roaring Ravenclaws snapped her back to reality and she started to scream her support for our House.

"COME ON RAVENCLAW! KICK SOME LION ARSE!"

At that moment, our team was announced by the commentator, an older Hufflepuff boy. I watched in awe as our team flew out from the lower right side of the field. Yes, me, in awe of Quidditch. Shocking, I know. But the way they flew with such ease was amazing. I could see Roger in the middle of the formation as they flew around the field. Even my untrained eyes could see that Mari flew exactly like her brother. She followed him like a hawk, shouting words of encouragement. She would definitely make the team if she ever tried out; her skills on a broom and her House spirit would earn her a spot on the team for sure. I turned my attention back to the field as the Gryffindor team was announced. A loud cheer from the crowd and an almost louder "BOOOOO" from our side of the stadium welcomed the team. I squinted across the field to see that Rod and the others had painted their faces red and were screaming like wild men.

The two teams met in the center of the field on the ground. Madam Hooch unlocked the chest containing the two bludgers and the Golden Snitch. With a blow of her whistle, she threw the Quaffle in the air and the match began. I had no idea what was going on and split my time listening to the Hufflepuff commentator and Mari.

"THROW THE QUAFFLE THROUGH THE HOOP, HE'S NOT EVEN GUARDING THE RIGHT ONE, PAY ATTENTION!"

"THE SNITCH! RIGHT THERE! DON'T YOU SEE IT HOW CAN YOU BE SO BLIND?"

"BLOCK IT! BLOOOOOCK IT! OH COME ON, EVEN I COULD BLOCK THAT! WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?"

Even though Mari was screaming at the team, our team was doing an incredible job. Twenty minutes into the game, we were up seventy to twenty. We still needed to catch the Snitch though; as Mari explained to me, if the Gryffindor's caught it first, they would still win the match.

The Gryffindor's called a time out and there was a brief moment of calmness.

"I'll give it to Cormac," Mari said. "That Oliver Wood guy, the Keeper, isn't too bad. He's blocked some great shots by Roger and the others. Actually, the whole team is pretty good. It's just that the other teams are doing much better."

"Yeah, even I could tell they were good, but our team is crazy great. It seems your words of encouragement really worked on your brother, eh?"

"Thank goodness! He was ready to blow before I got to him."

Another blow of the whistle signaled that the match was ready to start again and we focused on the field once more. It was ten minutes of intense playing. The Gryffindor's were getting much more aggressive, but our players would outmaneuver them every play. A loud cry from the Slytherin side drew the attention of everyone in stadium to the center of the field. The two Seekers had gone into a deep nosedive, chasing after a tiny ball of gold. There was a moment of silence as the crowd held their breath, before every person stood up and started yelling at the top of their lungs. Even the staff got involved! I could see tiny Professor Flitwick hopping up and down on his chair. Mari was almost hanging off the rail she was so into the moment.

"GET THE SNITCH! GET IT, DON'T LET ME DOWN OR I SWEAR I WILL JINX YOU WHILE YOU'RE SLEEPING! GET THE SNITCH FOR MERLIN'S SAKE GET. THE SNIIIIIIIITCH!"

The Seekers were almost at ground level. If they didn't pull up soon, there was going to be a huge mess.

"Wait for it…wait for it…WE GOT THE SNITCH!"

A loud cheer went through the crowd (at least our side) as he took a victory lap around the field. Flitwick was jumping joyously in his seat while Professor McGonagall looked thoroughly upset, but tried to put on a blank face. I looked across the stadium to see what the boys' reaction to the match was.

"Oh my Merlin, Mari, look at Mac!"

I pointed them out to her and waited until she could see them clearly. She squinted and burst out laughing as she saw them.

"No way! Oh my gosh, this is great! Definite blackmail material right there!" She was right. While Rod and Tony looked upset, they weren't showing nearly as much emotion as Mac; he was angrily slamming his hand on the rail with angry tears streaming down his face. Even from here, I could tell that he was shouting a string of words that I was forbidden to say by my parents.

"If only we had a camera…"

****

The victory high of the Ravenclaw win over Gryffindor lasted all day, into the night, and carried on to the next morning. Breakfast had been a loud affair, particularly from our table as we kept replaying the highlights of the match. The Gryffindor's were dealing with the loss rather well, except for a few students. By few, I mean Cormac. He refused to face Mari and me after the match, or all day yesterday. Rod and Tony laughed it off and were in good spirits.

"I've got to admit, even I took his reaction by surprise. Tears! There were actual tears!" Tony laughed.

"Yeah, he's locked himself in the dorm. He said he's 'packing.'"

"Oh, poor him. Will he gather up what's left of his manhood and join us in a compartment on the train?" I asked. "I would at least like to say goodbye before we leave for the holidays."

"I can probably talk him into it. Hey, I've actually got real packing to finish up. Meet you guys at the station?"

"Yeah, definitely. If we get there first, we'll save a compartment for the five of us."

"Six you mean. Logan's going to be sitting with me since we're going to the same place."

Mari choked on her bacon. Rod shot her a crazy look and he and Tony left the Great Hall for their tower.

"What is wrong with you? You almost blew your cover!"

"Lenny! I can't sit in a compartment with him for a long period of time! Not anymore!"

I was thinking the same thing, but I had to keep her focused or she would ruin it for both of us. "Alright, just calm down. If it gets too intense for you, just pretend to fall asleep on the train. I'll cover for you."

"Yeah…okay, that could work. That could work…just pretend to sleep. That's easy."

"Do we have our plan set?" She nodded. "Okay, let's get back up to the dorm. I have to somehow manage to stuff my Potions, Transfiguration, and History of Magic books in my luggage."

"Ugh, work over the holidays. Must they torture us so?"

We hurried up the staircase to Ravenclaw tower. There was a group of us all rushing to last minute things before the train left, so we didn't have to answer the riddle to get in. Throughout the whole term, Mari and I had only had to answer the riddle five times. The group quickly dispersed as we entered the blue room. The next two hours went by in a flurry of tossed clothes, flying quills and loose bits of parchment. Finally, it was 11:30 and it was time to head down to Hogsmeade. On the way down the stairs to the entrance hall, I passed my Ann. I figured it was time we made up, at least for the holidays. It was not a good time to be in a fight, not at such a happy time of the year. She saw me approach her in the corner of her eye and sped up her walking. Cheyenne kept up with her, but shot an apologetic look at me when she Antheia wasn't looking. Cheyenne knew how I felt about the whole situation since I had been having more secret talks with her during the term. She wanted a happy reunion as much as I did and had been trying to convince my sister to see things right. Obviously her attempts had been thwarted. As we went down the path that would lead us to the Hogwarts Express, we met up with Logan. Mari had a mini internal freak out (I could tell by the way her eyes grew wide and her breathing became very quick, very funny to witness in my opinion) and I tried to keep things normal. Ha, I was having a hard enough time keeping myself normal. Oh well, I thought to myself. Better start now since you'll be on the train with him for a few hours.

"So, how'd you like that match yesterday?" I started off.

"See, I knew you would bring that up. Low blow, Eddy."

"Oh, come one, you're not even in Gryffindor. If it was Hufflepuff that got destroyed, then yes, that would be a low blow."

"Fair point. It was a good game. Mari, your brother is pretty good."

"Thanks," she managed to get out. I gave her a small kick in the shin to get her to pull herself together.

"Where are you and Rod spending the holidays? He said you were staying at the same place."

"We're going to his mom's house, my aunt's. Their house is a bit bigger so it can hold more people. You two doing anything special?"

"Not really. Just the same old family celebration."

"Yeah, same."

"That's cool. And there's the train."

A large, scarlet steam train awaited us at the bottom of the path. Students were already boarding the train so we hurried down to make sure we could get a large enough compartment. Mari got on first and Logan followed. As my luggage was heavy, Logan offered to take it up for me. As I handed it over, our hands touched again and that same spark went through my body. I looked to see if he would react to it; he showed nothing on the outside, but his eyebrows bunched in the middle in confusion. As if to test it out again, he stuck his hand out to help me board. I hesitantly grabbed his hand and the result literally felt as if a thousand little sensors were going off inside me. Before he let go of my hand, I felt him squeeze it, just the tiniest bit. Shocked, we both released our hands like they were burning hot. I hid my blushing face behind my hair and took off behind Mari who was sticking her head in every compartment looking for an empty one. Could this be a more awkward start to my holiday?

"Found one!" she called. Before I could enter, a hand gripped my forearm tightly. I thought it was Logan and my heart started pumping fast.

"Hey, we need to set a few things straight, got it?" Ann's voice said.

"Oh, it's just you." How disappointing.

"Mum and Dad are not to know anything about what's going on between us, alright?"

"You mean, I can't tell them how you've been incredibly rude to your little sister when she did absolutely nothing wrong? Dang, that would have made a great story to tell."

"First, you know what you did. Second, you will not—"

"Wait, I know what I did? I did nothing!"

She pulled me in her compartment, never letting go of her grip. "Yes you did! You think you're so great being fantastic at Potions don't you? Just rub it in that the one thing I can't get right is the one thing you're brilliant at."

"I never—" She cut me off before I could defend myself.

"You did! And on top of that, you tried to interfere with me and Roger. I can handle things myself, I told you that!"

"Then why aren't you two together yet?"

"Shut up Helen! Listen, we'll keep civil when we have to be together, but I do _not_ want to be around you more than I have to! So stay away!" She pushed me out of the compartment.

Confused and angry—what a fantastic way to start the holiday.


	8. I'm Sooooorrrrrryyy

**THIS IS JUST A MESSAGE. DON'T HATE ME.**

Alright, so I'm sure you all know by now that I haven't, erm, updated in a long time. And I'm so sorry!! If I could go back in time and kick myself in the rear so I would get writing a lot faster, believe me, I would. It's just that I'm feeling a complete lack of inspiration right now. The first five chapters were written in three weeks. The chapter I'm working on right now took me a whole week. And I'm only half way done with it. And I absolutely hate what I wrote.

But do not fear, Dearest Readers! I have a friend who is playing Ms. Norbury to my Cady Heron (_Mean Girls_ reference, oh yeah) and is pushing me to write. So the chapter will be out soon. Hopefully, sometime this month. And I do have every intention on finishing Helen's first year. I made a promise to myself that I would finish this little story, even though I've had a few other story ideas floating around in my head for awhile (all about Harry Potter of course).

Lastly, thank you for sending me messages, writing reviews, all that jazz! It's so nice seeing those messages in my inbox.

Alrighty now, I think it's time I open up Word and start writing up a storm, yeah? :]

Peace, Meeshellz a.k.a. ProudSlytherclaw

P.S. OH! For all you HP fans that love A Very Potter Musical, DID YOU SEE THE NEWS FOR A VERY POTTER SEQUEL?! EXCITING AMIRITE?!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: It all belongs to J.K. Rowling. Except my characters. But everyone else totally belongs to her. **

**A/N: What's this? A finished chapter? "NO WAY" I hear you yell. To that, I say, "YES WAY!" I've actually had ¾ of the chapter finished for about 6 months now but I've had the hardest time coming up with an ending that I liked. We're talking serious, serious writer's block. Anyway, here's the chapter. Now this doesn't mean that I'm going to be whipping out chapters every day or anything. I'm going back to school now after a year off and I have a busy schedule. On top of that, I'm trying to get a job. But I promise, I will finish this story if IT'S THE LAST THING I DO. So enjoy. Oh, and cut me some slack, it's my first time writing since spring. :] **

**A/N 2: This one goes out to Thing 1. She kept updating **_**her**_** story and it made me feel bad for not updating mine. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY NOW. **

The rest of the train ride back to London was mostly uneventful, thank Merlin, with the exception of Eddie pulling me out of the compartment so he could give me my Christmas present, which turned out to be a kiss. Luckily, I saw him pucker his lips and was able to block his face and run back to my friends. Mari raised an eyebrow as I walked in but didn't say anything. The embarrassment I would go through trying to explain what had just happened would kill me, I'm sure of it.

A few hours later, the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station at King's Cross in London. It was sunset and the air had turned cold. As I hopped off the train, I pulled my coat on and hugged it close to my body. Rod and the rest of my group huddled together as we waited for our parents to get us. Mari's parents were the first to find our group.

"Mariella! Over here!" Her parents were standing at the end of the station. I could see where Mari got her looks from. They looked like they could be sisters, if it weren't for the large age and height difference. I confused her dad for Roger when I first saw him, they looked that much alike.

"No one can ever deny that you're your parents' kids, you know that Mari?" Cormac spoke as her parents walked over to us. "You look so much alike it's creepy. Like, clones creepy."

"Thanks for that Mac. Yeah, we get that a lot," she laughed. "Roger has it a lot worse though. At least there are some small differences between us. Roger looks exactly like Dad did at that age. You should see pictures of them."

Mari hugged and kissed her parents before she introduced us all to them.

"Mum, dad, these are the people I've been writing about in my letters. This is Cormac, Antony, Rod, Logan and of course, Helen. Guys, these are my parents."

"Nice to put a face to a name!" her mom said. "A pleasure to meet you all. Mari writes about you all the time."

"Good things I hope," said Mac, a nice smile on his face that was incredibly fake to anybody who knew him. Mari called him out on it.

"Mac, when it comes to you, there are no good things to write."

"Ouch, harsh! It's the holidays, geez, go easy! You know you'll miss my childish antics over the holiday."

"Unfortunately you're right. I'll be bored out of mind without any of you around. Just me and Roger."

"I'm sure your mum and I could arrange for some of your friends to visit over the break. We'll have to do some talking with the other parents of course."

"Oh, that would be great! Len, you can come over maybe!"

"That would be so fun! Oh, look there's my parents right now. With a whole bunch of other parent's by the looks of it." My parents, along with a small group of other adults, were making their way to our group.

"Lenny!" I heard my dad cry. I forgot about my friends and raced to give him a hug. "Dad! I've missed you so much this term!"

"So have I Len. You're mum has been out of her mind with boredom with you and your sister out of the house."

"It's good to know I've been missed! Mum!" I turned to give her a hug.

"Oh Len, you are not going back to Hogwarts next term! I didn't realize how empty the house would be without you and your sister fighting constantly. Speaking of your sister, where is she at? Was she sitting with you on the train?"

"Umm, no. She was sitting with Cheyenne and the twins I think. Hey! Come over here, I want you to meet Mari and the others!

"Guys, these are my parents! These are my mates that I write about all the time. Mac, Tony, Rod, Logan and Mari. Mum, Dad, can I please stay over at her house sometime over break? Please?"

"Yes Mr. and Mrs. Eddy, can she please stay over? My parents are right here, you four work things out while we say goodbye!" Mari pushed them all together and we went back to our group. The others were introducing all of us to their parents. After introductions, we all pushed our parents together to see if we could have friends come over during break. While the adults discussed schedules, we all said our goodbyes.

"We're only going to be away for a little bit, but I'm going to miss all of you!" Mari exclaimed.

"Wow Mari, no need to get all mushy."

"Shut it Mac, I wasn't including you in my mind you know."

"Oh, you know I'm going to missed the most."

"In your dreams!"

"Hey Kicks, promise to write to me if she says anything about missing me. I want to know! I need to know if she says anything about me!"

Rod shoved him. "Could you be anymore conceited Mac?"

"Would you keep me around if I wasn't? Every group needs the one conceited member; I'm taking it upon myself to be that person."

"You're so well intentioned Mac," Logan said with an eye roll.

"Thank you Logan! Finally, someone sees the truth!"

We all laughed and joked for a few more minutes while our parents continued to discuss plans for the break. Finally, we were pulled away by our parents so we could make our way home. The only person house that I could stay at was Mari's, but she was working it out so Katie could stay over the same night. As for the others, we had planned a big breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron the day we would go back to school. We said our last, _last_ goodbyes to each other and we all went our separate ways.

"Don't forget to write!"

"If you forget to write I won't help you with Potions anymore!"

"Happy holidays!"

"Well Len, you've made quite a few friends at school, haven't you?"

"Yes, the best sort too! I mean, aside from Logan. He acts a bit like Uncle Artie when he's drunk, except he's not drunk."

"You mean he's arrogant and self-centered?" my dad guessed.

"Yup, that's it," I said with a smile. "But he's really funny so that's why we keep him around."

"Dear, have you seen your sister at all? I know you sat apart on the train but do you know where she might be on the train?" Mum asked.

"Umm, nope. Oh, wait. Is that her standing against the wall?"

"Oh there she is. Ann! Over here!" Mum was waving her arm wildly over her head to get Ann's attention. Ann rolled her eyes, clearly embarrassed in front of her friends, though they didn't seem to mind. We waited as she said her goodbyes and brought Cheyenne over to our group.

"Mum! Dad!" She had put on her Good Daughter face as she gave them both a hug. "I've missed you guys!"

"We've missed you to Annie!" Dad said as he wrapped her in a one armed hug. Ann cringed at her nickname being said in front of her best friend; Cheyenne could care less, she wasn't the type to hold something like over Ann's head.

"Dad," Ann said between her teeth. "Cut the nickname till we're in the car at least."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry."

"Anyway. You remember Cheyenne, right?"

"Of course! Cheyenne how are you?" Mum asked.

"I'm great thanks! Grades being kept up, learning new things every day," she said cheerily.

"What I wanted to know was would she be able to come over sometime during the break?"

"We'll have to talk to her parents, but I don't see the problem on our end. Helen is going to go to her friend's house over the break too. Cheyenne dear, where are your folks at so we can figure this out?"

"Back over there at the end of the platform. I'll bring them over here, be right back!" She wove her way through the thick crowd to her parents. While we waited, Mum and Dad turned their attention back on me and Ann.

"Ann, you have barely written us at all this term! I've had to rely on information from your sister to know what's going on with you."

"So sorry, but the workload second year is ridiculous! I've been buried under homework since the start of the year!" Yeah right. The only thing she's been buried under is tons of make-up. "So, what exactly has my dear sister been writing about me?" She tossed her arm carelessly over my shoulder, an attempt to show sisterly affection towards me.

"Nothing too detailed. Just that you've been busy with homework and such. And that you've been spending a lot of time watching the students play Quidditch on the weekends. I didn't know you were interested in the sport Ann." Ha, now she would have to explain that the only reason she watches those games is because Roger is there. That, or come up with a good lie. Ann tightened her arm ever so slightly around my neck, enough that only I would notice and would show that she was upset with me for forcing her to come up with something.

"Oh, I'm not interested at all in the sport. It's just that it's so funny watching the students play. It looks like some of them haven't ridden a broomstick in their life! Here comes Cheyenne with her parents!" she exclaimed with a tone of relief. Cheyenne's parents started talking to my parents to come up with a day that would be fine for their daughter to come over to our house. Ann and Cheyenne started talking, leaving me out of the conversation. I took the time to look around the platform. Not many people remained. Most of the parents had picked up their kids and left already or were about to leave. On e group caught my eye. It was Odessa and her parents. She was dressed in a gray skirt and a dark green sweater; obviously her Slytherin pride extended into her casual wardrobe. She had the same cold eyes as her mum and dad, but the white blonde hair was taken directly from her mother. They were alike much the same way that Mari and her mum were, but they had the haughty attitude of many of the pureblood families I'd seen versus the warmness that poured out of the Davies family. She reminded me of Mrs. Malfoy when I saw her in Gringotts. It's a wonder how any person could handle being around those type of people for any length of time. Odessa must have felt my gaze because she turned her head around sharply. I thought she was going to do something, hex me or come over to me to say something nasty. I was surprised when she did nothing but turn her nose up in the air and walk away with her parents.

"I see you've made yourself an enemy along with all those friends, is that right Lenny?" my dad said behind me.

"Oh, you caught that look did you?"

"Yup. Who is she?"

"Her name is Odessa Winters. Slytherin, of course. One of my friends, Logan, got in an argument with her at the start of term and she's been taking her anger out on all of us ever since."

"Winters, Winters. Ah, I know of her father. Works at the Ministry. One of those pureblood families like the Malfoy's. They're all in the same circle. Have you gone to one of the professors to sort things out?"

"She hasn't done anything, not anything that we can prove at least. Everything she's done can be seen as an accident. We're kind of just sitting there with our hands tied behind our backs. We can't report her for anything."

"She's a Slytherin alright. Well, best keep a sharp eye out for that one. And don't let your mother hear about this. She'll start sending letters to the school and whatnot. You know how she overreacts to everything."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll be sure to keep it quiet. I hadn't planned on telling either of you to be honest."

"Good thing it was me who caught that look than, right?" he laughed.

"Dad, we're ready to go! Come on, I'm hungry and Mum said she has something in the oven!"

"Alright, let's go!" He pulled me into a hug with his arm.

"Good to have you back for a bit Len."

"Good to be back Dad."

This past week has been horrible. There are definite perks to being home on holiday—the decorations, my bed, watching the telly, and most importantly, music. The music listened to at school is stuff I've never heard of before, and really don't want to hear. I'm a huge Madonna fan and being without her music for a few months had been horrible. Now that I'm home, I can listen to her music again and it is so nice. The horrible side to being home is that I'm now stuck here with Antheia all day. My original plan had been to stay in my room as often as I could and read, but that plan went down the toilet after the first day when I had read all of my books. Now I'm in the living room most of the day whisper fighting with Ann over what channel we should watch. Not fun, I can promise you that much.

We must be doing a great job at pretending we like each other though. Mum keeps saying that it's so nice we don't fight anymore. "It's amazing what just one term away school with other kids your age can do!" If she only knew that her perfect daughters were at each other's throats the minute her back was turned. But no, let's keep this fantasy going for her as long as we can. Dad on the other hand isn't as oblivious as Mum. He doesn't say anything, once again knowing that Mum will blow things out of proportion, but whenever he has an errand to run, he always invites me along. Those days are the best. He asks me all sorts of questions about school, my classes, my friends, which professors are my favorite, have I kicked Mrs. Norris yet, those type of things. I avoided Logan as much I could. Even being away from him for a few days, the mention of his name still makes me blush. We'd been exchanging letters, but I tried to keep them as generic as possible. If I avoided writing him a letter, it might bring up some awkward conversation when I got back to school. Thankfully, Dad didn't pick up on my little crush on Logan. With his perceptiveness, I wouldn't be surprised if he had so I was entirely grateful he missed this one. He instead focused most of his attention on Rod.

"A battle of smarts. What an excellent idea. No wonder you're at the top of your year!"

"Yeah ,it's great! Of course, I spend a lot of time with my head in a book, but it's so worth it to see his face drop when I beat his score on an exam!"

"And your friend Mari, is she in the contest too?"

"No, she spends all of her spare time playing Quidditch. She wants to be on the team next year so she practices all the time. Not that she needs to, the skill must run in the family. Our other friend, Katie Bell, is a brilliant student too, but she spends a lot of her time practicing with Mari."

"Why don't you join them? See if you can try out for the team as well?"

I laughed. "Oh no! I might be able to stay on the broom, but I don't nearly have the amount of raw talent those two have in their blood! I'll stick to the library, thank you very much."

That's how most of our conversations went. He wanted to know as much about my life away from home as possible. He was glad I found my niche in my year and that I was enjoying my life as a Ravenclaw. "Not that we doubted you would!"

When we would get home, I would play the avoiding game with Ann. The times when we were forced to be together were rough. Lots of kicks were shared under the table (my shins were covered in bruises, as were hers) and tight smiles were aplenty. I couldn't wait until I was able to go to Mari's house. I was leaving for her house in two days, the same day Cheyenne would be visiting Ann. Until then, I would be locked in my room. There was no way I was going to make it cooped up like this. Thursday couldn't have come any sooner.

Thursday morning I was up at the crack of dawn. I was going to be free! Free of Ann's sideways glances, whispered insults and pinches when Mum and Dad weren't looking! Free! She written to me last night saying that anytime after nine in the morning was fine for her. I was ready by eight. I didn't have to pack anything, since I was going to be returning after dinner at her house. Since I was up so early, I had the telly all to myself. Cheyenne wasn't arriving till ten so Ann was sleeping in before their day out at Diagon Alley. I switched the channel to MTV. This early in the morning, there was nothing but music videos my favorite. I had missed out on the new ones while at school so this was excellent for me. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and plopped down on the couch to eat. Mum woke up fifteen minutes later and was surprised to see me up early.

"Why aren't you sleeping Len? It's so early!"

"Remember, it's Thursday? I get to go to Mari's house today! She said I can show up anytime after nine so I'm up," I said with a cheery smile.

"Oh," she mumbled groggily. "Well, I'm going to make myself some coffee and head back upstairs." She walked over to me and kissed me on the top of my head. "Come up to me before you leave, alright?"

"Sure thing! I wouldn't forget to say goodbye to my wonderful mother!"

"You better not!"

The wait for nine o' clock was dreadful. The time was crawling by, though it did give me plenty of time to catch up on the music scene. I was tuning in and out of the show as I thought about the day. Mari would probably talk about Logan which would make me incredibly uncomfortable. I'd have to put on my interested face and help her dissect his letters or something. But knowing her, she would be distracted easily and we wouldn't dwell on that too long. She had said in a letter that there was an open field by her house where Roger practiced flying. "Expect some Quidditch lessons Lenny!" she had written. That could be interesting. I still didn't know if Katie was going to be there today. If all three of us were there then we could have some real fun. As the clock chimed nine, I ran up the stairs to the master bedroom. I knocked once on the door before letting myself in the room. Mum was back in bed with the local news switched on.

"Alright Mum, I'm off! Don't be too lonely without me!"

"Oh I won't be, Mrs. Bluston is coming over for lunch, I'll be fine. Have fun at Mari's house! And don't forget to be on your best behavior over there. Don't do anything too out of control!"

"I won't Mum, I promise. I'm always the sensible one!"

"Bye love!"

I grabbed a jacket from my room and made my way downstairs to the fireplace. I was traveling by Floo Powder to the Davies residence. Hopefully I wouldn't get too much soot on me. I grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the small pot next to the wood pile and walked into the fireplace.

"45 Graystone Street!" I shouted as I threw the powder down. Green flames shot up around me and I was spun around. I had lost all sense of direction until I felt my feet land firmly on the ground.

"Why hello," a familiar voice spoke in front of me.

"Mari!" I threw my arms around her, possibly covering her in ash, but not really caring because I was with my best friend, finally!

"And good morning to you too! I was just finishing up my breakfast when I heard some noises from the fireplace. You're early!"

"Well you said nine, so I was ready at eight," I smiled.

"Your sister is _that_ big of a pain?"

"Ten times worse than what I wrote in the letter. There are no words to describe her right now. Look at my legs!" I cried as I hitched up my pant legs.

"Merlin! She did that? Sucks for you. Roger is being perfectly pleasant to be this break."

"Well it would be doubly horrible if we both had wicked siblings, wouldn't it?"

"True, true. Shame you had to have the evil sister. Well, you are Antheia free for one whole day. What shall we do?"

"Question first: Is Katie coming over today?"

"Yup! She should be here in about an hour. She wanted to sleep in a bit since she was at her grandparents house last night for Christmas party. Since they can't go on the actual holiday."

"Well how about you two teach me how to play Quidditch like a pro?"

"Excellent! I love bossing people around! First though, I have to show you something." Mari threw her plate in the sink and yanked me by the arm out of my chair and dragged me upstairs.

"What do you have to show me?" I asked, dreading that the answer would be a letter from Logan. It was way too early to play detective and guess what he _really_ means when he says "See you at school!"

"My room of course! I have a great view of this little town down the road. It's mainly a Muggle town, though there are a few other witches and wizards living in this area. They're not too hard to fool though when we get food and stuff."

As she dragged me up the stairs, I was able to get a good look at her house. It was a big size, larger than ours for certain. It wasn't a mansion or anything, but the rooms were large and there were a lot of windows.

"You have a really nice house."

"Thanks, tell that to my parents. They're the ones that built this after they got married. I've lived my whole life here. And this is my room!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm as we reached the top of the stairs. Straight ahead were double doors that she flung open with excitement.

"Tada! It's nothing really. Kind of messy. Ignore the pile of clothes in the corner. And all my school stuff is tossed over there. But it's my room."

"No, it's fantastic! Much larger than my room." The room was bright, partly because the rooms were a shocking yellow color, and also because there was a large window that had a view of the backyard and a large open field beyond it. "Is that the field where you'll teach me how to play later?"

"Yup. That's where Roger and I were taught how to fly. So when Katie gets here we'll head on out. We have some brooms in a storage closet outside we can use. So what do you want to do while we wait?"

"Um, I don't know. What have you been doing since you got back?"

"Ugh, absolutely nothing. I've been writing some letters to everyone just about every day. So that takes about an hour. And the rest of the day I'm either flipping through school books or avoiding homework, something I'm sure you've already finished."

"Are you kidding? I finished all my school work finished before we left Hogwarts."

"Then what are you doing all day? No wonder you're fighting with Antheia. If you had homework to do, you wouldn't be around her."

"No, we'd find something to argue about. Besides, I have a radio and a telly. Those are certainly enough to keep me occupied for a day. Though I guess we do fight over the telly…"

"Alright, I know you've tried to explain your Muggle technology to us all before, but you're going to have to show me what this "telly" thing is."

"Come visit during the summer, I'll show you all my glorious Muggle technology. You'll be amazed at what it can do to cure boredom."

"Sure thing. But since we don't have a telly to keep you occupied, we're going to have to entertain ourselves some other way….how about wizard's chess? Roger's got his game somewhere in his room. I'm sure he won't mind if we borrow it for a bit."

"Yeah, sounds great. I can't play very well though," I warned.

"Perfect! I can finally beat someone then! Roger is amazing at it, our uncle taught him out to play when he was younger."

"He didn't teach you?"

"He tried. But I'd get bored and make my chessman battle each other half way through. I've learned the basics though."

"Alright, get the set out then!"

We had just got around to finding the chess set (which wasn't in Roger's room, but in the attic), when we heard someone calling our names from downstairs.

"MARRRRRRRI! HELLLLLLENNNNN! I'M HEEEERRRRREEEE!"

"No, really?" we joked as we rushed down the stairs. "I think Dumbledore could here that you've arrived!" We all had a laugh as we got the brooms from the closet and head straight towards the field past the backyard.

"What, no snacks? Very rude, you make a horrible host, you know?"

"Oh hush," Mari said as we ran to the Quidditch pitch. "There's a berry bush along the edge of the field. Here we are!"

The field wasn't incredibly impressive, but being used to the grand pitch back at Hogwarts, it was obviously going to be on the smaller scale. It was about half the size of the school field, which was really all I needed since I was still a beginner (or "baby flyer" as Mari so often teased). There was a small hoop on each end and a small crate that held some beat up balls of different sizes.

"So, how should we start?" Mari asked Katie when we were all settled.

"Well Len, you have the basics of flying down, right?"

"Mostly," I replied. "I'm not very good but I know what I'm supposed to do. Madam Hooch tells me I over-think flying."

"Brainiac!" Mari coughed.

"Oh, like I didn't know what you just said!"

"Whaaat?" she laughed.

"She's kind of right though. You can't concentrate so much when you're flying. Just…let yourself go with it. It's supposed to be fun. And if you want to learn how to play Quidditch, you definitely have to let loose. How about we start off with some laps."

For the next three hours, Katie and Mari instructed me on proper flying technique and basic Quidditch lessons. It was much better than Flying lessons at Hogwarts-Madam Hooch just couldn't offer me the one-on-one lessons that I needed, or in this case, two-on-one. I already knew that Katie was a great teacher, but I was surprised to see how great Mari was, too. Once she got all of the mockery out of her system, she was very patient and was more than willing to repeat herself ten times for me to get the point of whatever I was being taught. By the time it was time for Katie and me to go, I was flying around the field right alongside them and had successfully thrown one of the larger balls into the hoop while in motion.

"Think Madam Hooch will be impressed with my progress over the break?" I asked.

"Definitely! You were barely able to keep yourself on the broom when you were flying in circles."

"Maybe she'll move you into the intermediate group once we go back!" Hooch had separated the class into three groups after the first week of lessons: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Mari and Katie were obviously in the advanced group since they had been flying a lot longer. I had been in the beginner group where we spent the lesson flying in circles and doing laps. Not fun at all.

When we got back to Mari's house, Katie had to leave right away.

"I'll see you guys in a few days! Good luck with your sister Lenny!" she said as she hugged Mari and me. She took a handful of Floo Powder and stepped into the flames. She poofed out of the fireplace with a wave.  
"Just me and you again. You sure you can't stay longer?" Mari asked. "I don't want to be left alone again, it's boring."

"Sorry," I frowned. "I promised that I'd be back before dinner. But if we're not doing anything, maybe you can come visit me!"

"Yeah! I'd love that! And you can help me with my homework too!"

"Or you could just buckle down and do it yourself!"

"Ew, no. Well, write to me once you find out if I can go so I can ask my parents. Or just write to me anyway to keep me busy," she smiled.

"Thanks for the flying lessons, they helped me so much, really."

"Anytime!"

"Well, bye for now!" I grabbed some Floo Powder and stepped into the fireplace just as Katie had minutes earlier. I threw the powder to the ground and as I shouted "Eddy Residence!" I gave one last wave to my best friend. Everything went blurry and spun out of control. When my vision righted itself, I stumbled out into my familiar living room and went upstairs. I paused outside Antheia's room to see if she was inside. As I stuck my head in, a bright furry bear hit me in my face.

"Keep your eyes in your own room!" she hissed at me from her bed. She had her other hand ready with a stuffed puppy.

"Sorry," I whispered as I shut her door quietly. I made my way to my room, closed the door behind me and launched myself onto my bed with a sigh.


End file.
